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Demand from buyers has kept a “pace with the pick-up in activity” despite a slight decrease in its overall clearance rate, according to the latest preliminary auction figures.
CoreLogic called last week “the busiest combined capital city auction week so far this year”.
According to the data firm, for the week ending 18 February 2024, 2,044 homes went under the hammer, with a preliminary clearance rate of 75.4 per cent, down slightly from the previous week, which came in at 76.2 per cent and revised down to 70.3 per cent on the final numbers.
This is the third consecutive week that the preliminary clearance rate has held above 73 per cent, a promising result given that at the end of last year the preliminary clearance rate sat in the mid-60 range, which was revised to the mid-50s.
CoreLogic’s analyst, Caitlin Fono, stated that the stronger auction results are attributable to more than early-year seasonality. Rather, it appears some confidence has returned to the auction markets as inflation has fallen, as well as the growing expectation that lower interest rates later this year could see housing price growth accelerate.
Across the major capital cities, Sydney recorded 688 auctions and returned with a preliminary clearance rate of 81.7 per cent – the city’s highest preliminary outcome since mid-October in 2021. This is the second consecutive week Sydney’s preliminary rate held above the 80 per cent range, with the previous week’s early rate coming in at 80.4 per cent, which was revised down to 75.4 per cent.
Looking at Melbourne, the Victorian capital had a preliminary clearance rate of 72.2 per cent with 961 auctions held.
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate remained steady as it sat above the 70 per cent mark through the year-to-date, however was down slightly compared to the week before which sat at 73.1 per cent, before revising to 66.9 per cent on final figures.
Brisbane recorded the busiest auction week of the smaller capitals, with 169 homes taken to auction, followed by Adelaide with 140 homes, Canberra with 74 homes, Perth with nine homes and Tasmania with three homes.
The data across the smaller capitals revealed that Adelaide recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate at 76.1 per cent, followed by Brisbane at 74.1 per cent and Canberra at 55.6 per cent.
In Perth and Tasmania, one auction result was reported per city and both were successful.
Looking ahead, this week is set to see a further pick up in auction activity, with around 2,800 homes currently scheduled to go under the hammer.
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