It was the quietest auction week for the combined capitals since Easter, with six of the eight states and territories celebrating the Kings Birthday long weekend. There were 1,040 capital city homes auctioned, down -42.7% from the 1,815 held last week and -24.6% below the 1,379 held this week last year.

Of the 825 results collected so far, 72.4% returned a successful result. Despite remaining above the 70% mark, this week's preliminary clearance is the lowest in six weeks, suggesting the June rate hike may have tempered buyer and vendor confidence. Last week's preliminary clearance rate of 77.2% was revised to 73.1% at final figures, 4.8 percentage points higher than the previous week and a significant improvement on the 54.8% clearance rate recorded this time last year.

Melbourne’s auction numbers more than halved this week, from 736 to 315. The 73.7% preliminary clearance rate was the lowest in seven weeks. Over the same week last year, 450 homes were auctioned across the city, and a final clearance rate of 52.4% was reported.

Sydney was the busiest auction market this week, with 468 homes auctioned, -37.7% below the number held last week and -13.5% less than the 541 auctioned this time last year. The preliminary clearance rate declined to 75.9% possibly driven by weaker vendor confidence. The week-on-week withdrawal rate surged from 9.9% to 16.1%, while the portion of properties passed in at auction dropped to 8.0%. This time last year, 54.3% of Sydney homes auctioned were successful.

Brisbane, which did not have a long weekend, was the busiest auction market among the smaller capitals, with 108 homes going under the hammer. Adelaide had 85 auctions, down -26.7% week-on-week, while Canberra had 52 auctions, a -35.8% drop on the previous week.

Adelaide’s 83.7% preliminary clearance rate was its highest since late April just as Brisbane’s success rate fell -18.1 percentage points to 58.8%. Canberra's preliminary clearance rate of 52.3% was a -24.6 percentage point decline week-on-week. Perth had two of its six auctions sell under the hammer while Tasmanians are in Dark Mofo mode, with no auctions held across the Apple Isle last week.

Capital city auction activity is expected to almost double next week, increasing to approximately 2,000, before trending closer to May’s average volumes. Both vendor and buyer confidence remains relatively buoyant, however it’s possible conditions could deteriorate as the expectation of further interest rate rises weigh on consumer and housing market sentiment.