There were 2,837 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities this week, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 74.5 per cent.

Last week, in what was the busiest auction week of the year, 3,206 auctions were held and the final clearance rate came in at 73.6 per cent.

Over the same week last year, auction volumes were lower with 2,631 homes going under the hammer across the combined capital cities, returning a final auction clearance rate of just 41.0 per cent. 

Melbourne

In Melbourne, a preliminary auction clearance rate of 75.3 per cent was recorded across 1,491 auctions this week, while last week there were 1,533 auctions returning a final clearance rate of 74.8 per cent.

One year ago, the clearance rate was just 43.8 per cent across 1,283 auctions. 

There were 1027 auctions reported to the REIV, with 799 selling and 228 being passed in, 91 of those on a vendor bid. 

REIV CEO Gil King said the highest number of reported auctions was Craigieburn with 16, followed by Doncaster East and Bentleigh East, hosting 14 and 13 auctions, respectively.

“Suburbs in inner Melbourne’s south-east region had the highest average clearance rate of 89 per cent last week, led by Malvern East selling all 12 homes listed for auction," said Mr King.

“The clearance rate has stayed above 70 per cent for 25 consecutive weeks, lifting the year-to-date clearance rate to 69 per cent compared to 58 per cent six months ago.”

corelogic_auctions_this_week.jpg

Sydney

There were 936 auctions held in Sydney this week, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 78.1 per cent.

In comparison, there were 1,221 auctions held over the previous week and the final auction clearance rate was 78.1 per cent.

One year ago, 870 auctions were held and the clearance rate came in at 41.3 per cent. 

6-illeroy-avenue-killara_2.jpg

Auctioneer Jake Moore of Cooley Auctions said they had 54 auctions go up and as of today we recorded a 70 per cent clearance rate.

"Last Saturday was our third last this Saturday we have 52 (auctions) and on the 21st we have just 14," said Mr Moore. 

"I certainly felt there was a sense of urgency from bidders.

"Lack of stock on the market, the urge to have bought something before Christmas and an uncertainty for what the new year will bring made it a semi-frenzy environment.

"On a number of occasions at more than one auction I had multiple bidding cards flying up at the same time from buyers trying to get their bids in."

Mr Moore said they averaged 5.2 bidders and an average over reserve of $69,000.

Brisbane

Justin Nickerson of Apollo Auctions said auction figures hadn't changed much this week.

"This week, South East Queensland remained steady with the overall clearance rate remining consistent with the past few weeks," said Mr Nickerson.

"It was apparent that the majority of sales were prior, or protracted negotiations, perhaps indicating that the buyer depth coming into Christmas has dipped slightly."

Other Markets

Across the smaller auction markets, Adelaide had the highest volume of auctions with 146 homes going under the hammer, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 61.8 per cent.

Auction markets have been tested on higher volumes over the past few weeks, with the highest number of auctions held so far this year.  

Despite higher supply levels, clearance rates have held above 70 per cent across the largest markets, demonstrating the market has some depth and sellers remain in a strong position.

Regional Report

One of the largest regional analysis of its type now available in the market is the CoreLogic Regional Report. 

Produced quarterly, the regional analysis delivers market insights for houses and units across 25 of Australia’s largest non-capital city regions. 

The current quarterly report to October 2019 revealed that of the separate 50 house and unit markets included in the analysis, more than half (29) have seen values rise over the 12 months to October. 

Houses were the best performer over the year, with 16 of the regions analysed recording a rise in values while on  the flipside, nine regional areas saw house values decline over the 12 months. 

Across the unit market, the results showed a relatively even positive and negative growth spread over the past 12 months, with 13 regions recording a rise in unit values. Eleven regions saw a decline in unit values. 

The Mackay- Isaac- Whitsunday region in Tropical Northern Queensland delivered a stellar results and recorded an annual rate of growth at 5.9 per cent in October 2019; making it the best performing house market across the 25 regional areas. 

In New South Wales, houses in Illawarra performed in equal contrast with values down -5.9 per cent over the same period. 

The largest decline in house sales were in the area of Latrobe-Gippsland in Victoria which recorded the largest decline in house sales in October down -22.1 per cent over the year 

The fastest selling market was Ballarat in Victoria where houses are taking just 33 days to sell.

On the flipside, houses within the Southern Highlands & Shoalhaven region of NSW are sitting on the market for over 100 days.

The unit market recorded fewer regions with positive annual growth in October however included regions with some of the highest annual growth rates. 

The best performing unit market was Launceston and North East region in Tasmania which saw unit values rise by 10.7 per cent in October, making it the best performing market across all 50 house and unit regions. 

The largest decline were seen across Western Australia’s Bunbury with unit values down 17.2 per cent annually. 

The fastest selling was much like houses, units across Ballarat (Vic) currently sell quicker than any other region with the average unit selling in 30 days, with also the lowest discounting rates at -2.8 per cent.

While in New England and North West NSW, selling conditions are much more challenging with units taking around 112 days to sell.

Similar to this:

Super Saturday as Christmas draws near

Weekly rise in auction volumes across Australian capital cities

CoreLogic expands valuation service to rural areas