Volumes and clearance rates were up from the prior week
The combined capital cities saw 2,292 homes taken to auction over the weekend, overtaking last week (2,226) to become the second-busiest auction week so far this year.
The volume was still down from the same time last year (3,377), according to a report from CoreLogic. Of the 1,795 results collected as of Monday, 71% were successful, the highest preliminary clearance rate since mid-April of 2022.
The clearance rate was also up 2.6 percentage points on the prior week’s preliminary clearance rate of 68.4%. That week’s final rate was revised down to 64.2%, breaking a four-week streak of clearance rates above 65%, according to CoreLogic.
However, once remaining results for this week are collected, it’s likely that clearance rates will rise above 65% again, CoreLogic said. This time last year, the clearance rate was 66.8%.
Sydney and Melbourne
Melbourne saw its second-busiest auction week of the year, with 1,122 homes going under the hammer. That’s up 7.2% over the prior week’s 1,047, but still 31% lower than this time last year (1,626), CoreLogic reported. Of the 916 results collected as of Monday, 73.5% were successful. This was Melbourne’s highest preliminary clearance rate since mid-April of last year (73.6%).
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Sydney also saw its second-busiest auction week of the year with 791 homes under the hammer. That’s up slightly from last week’s 782, while still down significantly from the same time last year (1,104). Of the 681 results collected as of Monday, 71.5% were successful. That’s down two percentage points from the prior week’s preliminary clearance rate of 73.5%, which was revised down to 67.9% in final figures.
Smaller capitals
Brisbane held the most auctions among the smaller capitals at 135, followed by Adelaide (131) and Canberra (91).
All of the smaller capitals posted an improvement in preliminary clearance rates week over week, according to CoreLogic. Adelaide posted the highest rate at 78.6%. Canberra’s preliminary clearance rate was 59%, while Brisbane’s was 56%.
In Perth, only three of the 13 results collected as of Monday were successful. Tasmania held four auctions, and the three results collected as of Monday were unsuccessful, CoreLogic reported.
CoreLogic predicted that 2,750 homes would be taken to auction in the combined capital cities next week in the lead-up to Easter, followed by a temporary drop in auction volume over the holiday weekend.
A recent CoreLogic report detailed how the housing market has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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