Over 2,500 homes went under the hammer across the country last week, showing that there’s no sign of spring selling slowing down.
According to CoreLogic, 2,550 homes went under the hammer Australia-wide over the week ending 24 September 2023. Originally expected to be the busiest auction week of 2023, approximately 200 rescheduled auctions and a withdrawal rate of 9.5 per cent saw the week’s volume slip to second highest of the year to date.
Alongside a 10.2 per cent week-on-week activity increase, preliminary clearance rates across the country also rose nearly 2 per cent, with 72 per cent of the 1,933 results collected so far ending successfully.
An activity rebound meant Melbourne was the nation’s busiest market this week. The Victorian capital hosted 1,038 auctions, up 5.7 per cent on the previous week – when activity dipped below 1,000 for the first time in four weeks – while for the second time in five weeks the city’s preliminary clearance rate (70.5 per cent) rose above the 70 per cent mark.
Melbourne’s inner south was its strongest performing subregion after 83.6 per cent of the 156 auctions ended successfully. Conversely, the city’s west, which reported a preliminary clearance rate of 57.5 per cent from 109 auctions, was the city’s weakest performing subregion.
In Sydney, 978 homes went under the hammer over the course of last week. So far, 777 results have been collected, with 74.4 per cent ending successfully – Sydney’s highest preliminary clearance rate in four weeks. CoreLogic reported this increase was driven by both the city’s withdrawal rate and the portion of properties passed in dropping.
The inner southwest was the NSW capital’s strongest performing subregion after 86.3 per cent of its 93 auctions ended successfully, while the city’s southwest, which reported a preliminary clearance rate of 63.6 per cent from 38 auctions, was its weakest performing subregion.
Across the smaller capital cities, Brisbane and Adelaide both reported their busiest auction weeks of the year, with 237 and 174 homes going under the hammer respectively. The South Australian capital reported the highest preliminary clearance rate of the smaller capitals for the 14th successive week (84.1 per cent), followed by Brisbane’s 70.3 per cent.
In the national capital, 102 homes went under the hammer with 57.1 per cent ending successfully, while just five of the 20 homes auctioned in Perth were successful. The one home scheduled for auction in Tasmania this week was withdrawn from auction.
In light of five of the seven capital cities celebrating a long weekend, this week auction activity is expected to almost halve.