Auction volumes continue to rise with Melbourne having the second busiest week this year

National auction clearance results for the week ending 10/12/2017 courtesy of CoreLogic.

The lower weighted clearance rates of late can be attributed to the continual softening conditions across the two largest markets of Melbourne and Sydney, with clearance rates tracking below 70 percent across Melbourne for 5 consecutive week’s now (67.4 percent), however volumes across the city have been consistently higher; with volumes this week reaching their second highest level this year (1,837), while Sydney’s clearance rates have tracked around the mid-high 50 percent range over 7 consecutive week’s (58.7 percent). Across the smaller markets, Canberra recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate this week, with 66.7 percent of homes selling, while Brisbane returned the lowest with only 46.6 percent of auctions successful.

In Melbourne, a 67.4 percent preliminary clearance rate was recorded across the second busiest week for auctions this year, with 1,837 held, up from 1,647 auctions last week when the final auction clearance rate fell to its lowest seen since June 2016 when only 65.4 percent cleared. One year ago there were 1,685 auctions held, with a notably higher clearance rate (78.4 percent). The Inner region of Melbourne had the highest number of auctions this week (304), with a preliminary clearance rate of 67.3 percent. Meanwhile, the strongest clearance rate was recorded across the North West region, where 74.4 percent of the 182 auctions held sold.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate this week was 58.7 percent, across a total of 990 auctions held, increasing on last week’s final clearance rate of 56.2 percent when 1,143 auctions were held. Over the same week last year, 1,163 auctions were held across Sydney and a clearance rate of 73.7 percent was recorded. North Sydney and Hornsby hosted the most auctions of any Sydney sub-region this week, with 145 properties taken to auction. The preliminary clearance rate for the region is 61.5 percent across 109 results.

There were 183 Brisbane homes taken to auction this week, with 131 results reported so far. The preliminary clearance rate for the city is 46.6 percent, up from 42.8 percent last week and higher than one year ago, when 43.5 percent of the 206 properties taken to auction were successful. Across the Gold Coast, 83 results have been reported so far, with a success rate of 37.4 percent.

A total of 163 Adelaide homes were taken to auction this week, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 65.0 percent across 120 results, up from 59.1 percent last week when 144 auctions were held across the city.

Perth’s clearance rate of 46.7 percent across 62 auctions is up from the previous week, when 50 auctions were held and a clearance rate of 32.6 percent was recorded.  Over the same week last year, the clearance rate was a lower 20.0 percent, and 76 auctions were held.

In Canberra, 106 auctions were held this week, and of the 84 reported results, 66.7 percent were successful. Last week, only 102 auctions were held and the clearance rate was a higher 71.6 percent. This time last year, results were similar with 118 auctions held and a clearance rate of 60.8 percent.

In Tasmania, 12 auctions were reported to CoreLogic with 5 sales.

Preliminary clearance rates in each state courtesy of CoreLogic (as at 9am EST 10/12/2017):

• Sydney – 58.7% clearance, 990 total auctions, 732 results reported, 430 cleared, 302 uncleared
• Melbourne – 67.4% clearance, 1837 total auctions, 1517 results reported, 1023 cleared, 494 uncleared
• Brisbane – 46.6% clearance, 183 total auctions, 131 results reported, 61 cleared, 70 uncleared
• Adelaide – 65% clearance, 163 total auctions, 120 results reported, 78 cleared, 42 uncleared
• Perth – 46.7% clearance, 62 total auctions, 30 results reported, 14 cleared, 16 uncleared
• Tasmania – 50% clearance, 12 total auctions, 10 results reported, 5 cleared, 5 uncleared
• Canberra – 66.7% clearance, 106 total auctions, 84 results reported, 56 cleared, 28 uncleared
  Combined national preliminary result – 63.5% clearance, 3353 total auctions (2624 reported, 1667 cleared).
  Weighted average clearance rate 63.1%

Last week’s preliminary results as reported are here

^{The above results are preliminary, with ‘final’ auction clearance rates published each Thursday by CoreLogic. CoreLogic, on average, collects between 85% and 90% of auction results each week. Clearance rates are calculated across properties that have been taken to auction over the past week.}