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Major cities record best preliminary clearance rate since May

By Keonia Swift
11 October 2022 | 6 minute read
Adelaide Sydney Brisbane reb

Despite being slowed down by several public holidays in recent weeks, auction activity increased this week in the combined capitals. 

The combined capital’s preliminary clearance rate remained above 60 per cent for the sixth week in a row, at 63.4 per cent, with 1,441 results collected so far. This week’s preliminary clearance rate of 63.7 per cent is the highest for the nation’s capital since late May’s 63.7 per cent. 

This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points from last week’s rate of 62.3 per cent. However, despite the recent uptick in auction activity, this week’s total is still well behind the 2,708 auctions that took place during the same period last year, when demand was higher and clearance rates were higher (80.2 per cent).

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A total of 1,799 properties were auctioned off across the national capitals for the week ending 9 October, according to CoreLogic. It’s an increase of 11.2 per cent from the 1,618 properties sold at auction the previous week and a rise of 36.7 per cent from the 1,316 properties sold at auction the week prior.

This week’s auction activity peaked in Melbourne, where 721 properties were put up for bid — with its highest preliminary clearance rate since early May (68.4 per cent), 66.1 per cent of the auctions were successful. 

The preliminary clearing rate for the previous week was 64.3 per cent, whereas the rate for similar auctions at the same time last year was 77.3 per cent. 

This week, 686 auctions took place in Sydney, up from 484 the week before due to the Labour Day long weekend. After tallying 545 results, the preliminary clearance rate in Sydney increased by 90 basis points, from 60.4 per cent last week to 61.3 per cent this week. This is the highest preliminary clearance rate in Sydney since mid-August (63.4 per cent). 

Despite the improvement in the preliminary clearance rate, the percentage of properties that were passed in at auction dropped to its lowest level since early March (17.2 per cent), falling to 17.6 per cent in Sydney. 

This week’s withdrawal rate was up from 17 per cent the previous week to 21.1 per cent, while at the same time last year,  81.7 per cent of Sydney’s 825 auctions at this time last year were successful. 

Canberra (86.9 per cent), Adelaide (44 per cent), and Brisbane (5.1 per cent) saw increased clearance rates week over week, while Perth (47.4 per cent) saw decreased activity. 

Among the nation’s smaller capitals, Adelaide had the busiest week in terms of home auctions (144), followed by Brisbane (124) and Canberra (114). 

For the first time since early June (71.1 per cent), the preliminary clearance rate in Canberra was above 70 per cent, with 70.9 per cent of auctions reporting a successful result; preliminary clearance rates in Adelaide and Brisbane were 69.7 per cent and 49.4 per cent, respectively. 

In Perth, 11 homes were set to be auctioned, but just one has been sold — while there were no auctions in Tasmania.

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