The impact of potential policy changes on investment is believed to be have been a factor in decreasing auction volumes across the capital cities throughout the past week, according to CoreLogic.

The firm's market wrap indicated 1,210 homes were taken to auction across the combined capital cities this week, down from 1,479 the previous week.

CoreLogic market commentator Kevin Brogan said while the upcoming federal election may have contributed to results, it was not the only challenge for the market.

"When the market is soft, investors tend to be deterred by uncertainty," he said.

"All of the debate appears to have actively suppressed market activity."

"However, It's important to remember that we also tend to see a seasonal downturn at this time of the year heading into winter."

The volume may have decreased, but the results indicate that clearance rates remain strong across the capital cities, with a final rate 52.5 per cent for the week to May 5.

The past week's preliminary clearance rate was 58.1 per cent.

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Source: CoreLogic

Mr Brogan said the final clearance rate was expected to hold around the low-to-mid 50 per cent range.

"While the trend in auction clearance rates certainly aren’t describing strong market conditions, with the success rate holding around ten percentage points higher than late last year, it reflects a better fit between buyer and seller expectations on prices," he said.

Across the smaller auction markets, preliminary results show that Perth was the best performing in terms of clearance rate with 53.8 per cent of auctions successful.

However, there were only 18 auctions held across the city. Brisbane was the worst performing auction market this week according to preliminary results with 83 homes auctioned and 39.2 per cent clearing. 

Sydney

There were 441 auctions held in Sydney this week returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.6 per cent - the strongest preliminary result across the capital cities.

At the same time last year, a clearance rate of 57.2 per cent was recorded from 539 auctions.  

Real Estate Institute of NSW President Leanne Pilkington said agents were reporting good numbers through open for inspections, the looming election was "slowing peoples decisions" around moving down.

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158 Arthur Terrace, Red Hill which was sold by Ray White Paddington and Apollo Auctions for $815,000. As seen on The Home Page

Melbourne

In Melbourne, a preliminary clearance rate of 56.8 per cent was recorded from 545 auctions, compared with a final clearance rate of 56.6 per cent from 672 auctions from the week before.

Of the 385 auctions reported to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, 231 sold and 154 were passed in, 68 of those on a vendor bid.

REIV CEO Gil King said the city's middle ring suburbs had hosted more than half the transactions.

“Brighton and Mill Park led the market with five auction sales each while Craigieburn recorded a 100 per cent clearance rate from four listings," he said.

Brisbane

Brisbane was the worst performing auction market this week according to preliminary results with 83 homes auctioned and 39.2 per cent clearing. 

Apollo Auctions had an average turnout of 15 attendees per auction.

Auctioneer Justin Nickerson said buyer number had "noticeably cooled".

"The Queensland market staggered towards Election Day last week with a slight decline in the overall clearance," he said.

By Sean Slatter

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