Scheduled auctions were up for the weekend, but activity may start slowing soon
Capital city auction rates may have peaked for the season with 2,719 homes going under the hammer during the weekend, according to new data from CoreLogic.
Auction volumes are up 7.2% week on week. New data indicates last week will be the busiest since late May, when 3,226 homes were auctioned, according to The Australian.
For the week of Nov. 28, 2,537 homes went under the hammer, and volumes have been growing steadily. However, that growth could start to slow as soon as this week, with CoreLogic predicting volumes of about 2,300.
The increased auction activity is spurred by seasonality, CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen told The Australian. Auction volumes over the same period last year reached a record-breaking 4,981 homes.
“This year has been marked by a very lacklustre spring selling season … We’ve seen declines both in the number of people in the market to buy and in the amount that people are able to borrow,” Owen said. “While we do talk a lot about the spring selling season – which technically ends in November on the auction market – it actually does usually see a peak midway through December.”
While eight successive rate hikes by the Reserve Bank have increased mortgage stress, Owen said there was currently no apparent trend of forced sales.
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“Both the amount of properties are going up for private treaty, and auction sales are actually low relative to what we would usually see this time, so that indicates to me that there’s not a lot of forced selling; it could be a bit of a test to that in 2023,” Owen told The Australian.
Melbourne leads the pack for auctions over the weekend, with 1,207 homes scheduled to go under the hammer – the city’s highest auction levels since mid-June. Sydney had 988 homes scheduled for auction.
Brisbane had 180 auctions scheduled, Adelaide 178 and Canberra 143, The Australian reported.
The combined capital city clearance rate is down from 2021. While the prior week’s clearance levels were 57.8%, up from the week before, the clearance rate for the same week last year was 66.3%.
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