Auction volumes fell across the combined capitals this week, largely driven by a drop in properties going under the hammer in Melbourne.
CoreLogic reported there were 2358 auctions held across the combined capitals, resulting in a preliminary clearance rate of 59.8 per cent.
The volume of auctions was down 6.7 per cent compared to last week when 2528 auctions took place and 20.3 per cent lower than the 2960 auctions held this time last year.
“With 2526 result collected so far, this week’s preliminary clearance rate is up 2 percentage points from last week’s preliminary clearance rate,” CoreLogic said.
Last week’s initial success rate was 57.8 per cent, and later revised to 55.2 per cent at final figures.
This time last year 75.4 per cent of auctions held recorded a successful result.
Melbourne
With 984 auctions held across the city, Melbourne recorded the busiest auction week amongst the capitals, despite its auction activity falling 22.3 per cent week-on-week.
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate rose above 60 per cent for the first time in four weeks with 61 per cent of the 817 results collected so far returning a positive result.
“This is up 3.1 percentage points from last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 57.9 per cent, which revised down to 55.7 per cent at final figures,” CoreLogic said.
This time last year 74.7 per cent of the 1418 auctions were successful.
Sydney
Across Sydney, preliminary clearance rates rose this week for the first time in five weeks, up 50 basis points from last week’s preliminary result of 55.4 per cent, which revised to 52.7 per cent at final numbers.
Over 700 results for the 898 auctions held across the city this week have been collected so far, with 55.9 per cent reporting a successful result.
“Despite this small uptick in the preliminary clearance rate, Sydney recorded its highest withdrawal rate since the week ending 26 April 2020,” CoreLogic noted.
The Anzac Day long weekend saw 28.6 per cent of scheduled auctions withdrawn, while this weekend 28 per cent were withdrawn.
Compared to the previous week when 795 auctions were held, this week’s auction activity was up 13 per cent but down 17.2 per cent compared to this time last year.
This time last year, 1084 auctions took place, resulting in a clearance rate of 77.5 per cent.
The smaller capitals
Auction activity across the smaller capitals this week was in line with the volumes recorded the week prior, and up 3.9 per cent compared to this time last year.
Adelaide was the busiest amongst the smaller capitals, hosting 173 auctions, followed by Brisbane and Canberra with 161 and 121 auctions respectively.
A similar pattern was seen in clearance rates, with Adelaide recording the highest preliminary clearance rate (68.8 per cent), followed by Brisbane (65.4 per cent) and Canberra (62 per cent).
Eight of the 16 results collected so far across Perth reported a successful result, while neither of the two auctions held in Tasmania were successful.
Domain results
Domain has reported a preliminary clearance rate of 58.5 per cent after tracking 1911 auctions across the major capitals.
So far, results have been provided for 1326 of those auctions, with 776 properties selling (to the value of $591.6 million), while 237 auctions were withdrawn.
Last week, the final clearance rate settled at 52.7 pr cent after 2195 auctions took place.
Results were provided for 1928 of those auctions, with 1016 properties selling (to the value of $831.8 million), while 274 properties were withdrawn.
This time last year, the clearance rate was 73.2 per cent after 2449 auctions took place.
Results were provided for 2259 of those auctions, with 1653 properties selling (to the value of $2181 million), while 265 properties were withdrawn.
Sydney
Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate is sitting at 56.1 per cent after 772 auctions took place this weekend.
So far, results have been provided for 488 of those auctions, with 274 properties selling (to the value of $261.9 million), while 142 properties have been withdrawn.
Last week, Sydney’s clearance rate settled ay 50.4 per cent after 753 properties were taken to auction.
Results were provided for 637 of those auctions, with 321 selling (to the value of $334.8 million), while 139 properties were withdrawn.
This time last year 76.1 per cent of Sydney’s auctions were successful after 939 properties went under the hammer.
Results were provided for 871 of those properties, with 663 selling (to the value of $1111.4 million), while 115 properties were withdrawn.
Melbourne
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate is sitting at 58.2 per cent after 848 properties were taken to auction.
So far, results have been provided for 649 of those auctions, with 378 properties selling (to the value of $258.9 million), while 86 properties have been withdrawn.
Last week, Melbourne’s final clearance rate was 53 per cent after 1136 auctions took place.
Results were provided for 1004 of those auctions, with 532 properties selling (to the value of $393.4 million), while 118 properties were withdrawn.
This time last year, Melbourne’s clearance rate was 70.2 per cent after 1241 properties were taken to auction.
Results were provided for 1118 of those auctions, with 785 properties selling (to the value of $875 million), while 130 properties were withdrawn.
Ray White results
The mid-winter auction market continued to fire with strong buyer activity across the country, according to the Ray White Group
They noted, despite higher interest rates and high inflation, which is mostly being driven by price rises on non-discretionary goods, auction clearance rates have rebounded.
Is stock ‘piling up’, as is so widely reported? Ray White has strong levels of new stock coming to market, in line with last year.
The group’s total stock on the Australian market is up about 17 per cent from last year but still below where it was two years ago.
“So the headlines are alarmist. Stock is increasing but trending up towards longer term averages,” the Ray White Group noted.
Ray White had 363 auctions scheduled for this Saturday around Australia, with another 615 booked next week in the winter school holidays.
So far in 2022, the group has had 13,555 auctions scheduled for the first half of the calendar year. That’s 19.6 per cent higher than 2021, which was the biggest auction year ever on record.
On Saturday, the group recorded a preliminary clearance of 66 per cent under the hammer, with 3.7 average registered bidders and decent crowds recorded in all markets.
Over the week, the group cleared 64 per cent.
Adelaide finished with a 64 per cent clearance with Sydney on 62 per cent, while Melbourne cleared 76 per cent on the day, and Brisbane cleared 57 per cent today.
Sydney
Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said it was a typical winter selling weekend.
“We saw less activity across our properties, though good properties are still obtaining higher numbers of interested buyers and obtaining the best prices,” Mr Pattaro said.
“Property prices are still holding strong, especially in affordable suburbs.
“We are expecting less auction volume to come to market over the coming weeks compared to previous years, which could make a great opportunity for sellers to capture a higher pool of buyers, which may result in better prices.”
Melbourne
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said the number of auctions continues to be high.
“It’s been another busy week of auctions, with just under 200 Ray White auctions scheduled across Victoria this week, which is roughly the same number as last week, before we see a slightly quieter few weeks ahead with school holidays commencing,” he said.
With recent interest rate rises and some uncertainty in the global economy, the overall real estate landscape is returning to a more balanced level.
“While we’ve seen much disruption in the global economy over the last few months, particularly with inflation on the rise, we are hearing from our customers that the safety of real estate investment continues to be appealing,” Mr Dullens said.
“Whether this is a property to make the family home or as a potential investment, our customers are reiterating that the relative stability and predictability of real estate compared to other asset classes is helping drive confidence to continue on their property journey, as we can see from the sustained strong results.”
Adelaide
Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said that while there may be talk of a downward trend in property sales throughout Australia, Adelaide was seeing no such evidence.
“Buyers are still out in force. And while registrations are down slightly, participation in bidding remains very, very strong.
“We may not be sailing past the reserve as we were in 2021 or even early 2022 but the hammer is still dropping on a regular basis,” Mr Morris said.
“Last week CoreLogic reported a clearance rate of 67.6 per cent for Adelaide while Ray White reported the same metric at 75 per cent.
“In the last eight days, I’ve sold 15 out of 16 properties under the hammer, with an average of eight registered bidders.
“So is the market slowing down? Certainly doesn’t seem to so from my vantage point.”
