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The week ending 26 November saw the weakest preliminary clearance rate since mid-March 2023, according to the latest insights from CoreLogic.
CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy flagged that while capital city auction activity “held relatively steady” with 2,972 homes auctioned across the capital cities, “buyers have become more cautious”.
Sharing that the week’s preliminary capital city clearance rate sat at just 65.9 per cent, Ms Ezzy said it was the lowest since a 65 per cent clearance rate was recorded back in March.
“With 2,261 results collected so far, last week’s early success rate was 2.1 percentage points below the previous week’s preliminary rate (68 per cent, revised to 62.4 per cent at final numbers) and will likely also revise below the decade average (65.8 per cent) once finalised,” she outlined.
The low success rate is despite Melbourne having been hyped up for its third busiest week of 2023, while Sydney has been expected to have its biggest week of auctions since April in 2022.
In the end, Sydney played host to 1,154 auctions, leading to its busiest week of the year. Melbourne saw 1,311 homes go under the hammer.
Ms Ezzy said the numbers “have corresponded with a normalising in stock levels across both cities”.
Total listing levels across Melbourne are now 7.6 per cent above the five-year average for the time of year, while Sydney levels have moved to be in line with its average (0.7 per cent).
When it comes to clearance rates, Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate “held firm relative to the week prior”, sitting at 68.7 per cent off 910 results collected so far.
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate for the week is sitting at 64.1 per cent off 1,013 results.
According to Ms Ezzay, while the preliminary results “are still higher than the final rates seen this time last year, both cities have seen the final clearance rate drift below the decade average over the past few weeks”.
What that showed, the economist revealed is “a clear sign than selling conditions are swinging back towards buyers”.
Looking to the smaller capitals, and Brisbane saw a preliminary success rate of 61.7 per cent despite having the largest amount of auction activity, which was markedly less than those recorded by Adelaide and Perth, which recorded preliminary clearance rates of 76.9 per cent apiece.
In Canberra, a more balanced 52.7 per cent preliminary clearance rate came off the back of a 15 per cent boost to listings, while none of the three auctions that took place in Tasmania found success.
Looking ahead, CoreLogic is expecting a few weeks of strong auction volumes to round out 2023, but Ms Ezzy acknowledged that “it’s looking increasingly likely that selling conditions will continue to soften into 2024.
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