Thanks to a 'Super Saturday' event, capital city auction activity skyrocketed last week, with 3,383 homes auctioned across the combined capitals. The busiest auction week since Easter 2022, last week's auction volumes were 37.4% above the 2,463 auctions held the week prior and 76.1% higher than the 1,921 seen this time last year. While still below the record-breaking numbers seen in November and December of 2021, last week marked the first-time weekly auction numbers have exceeded 3,000 since late May 2022 (3,226).  

The additional auction activity tested the depth of buyer demand, with the combined capital's preliminary clearance rate falling to 68.5%, the lowest preliminary rate since Easter (67.8%). With 2,573 results collected so far, 23.1% of properties were passed in at auction while 8.4% were withdrawn by vendors. The previous week's preliminary clearance rate was 2.3 percentage points higher at 70.8% (revising to 65.7% at final figures), while this week last year, a final clearance rate of 58.8% was reported.

Melbourne saw 1,703 homes go under the hammer last week — the busiest auction week since mid-April 2022 (1,795). The previous week saw 1,139 homes auctioned across the city, while this time last year, 602 auctions were held. The additional supply was met with a consummate rise in demand, with Melbourne's preliminary clearance rate holding steady at 68.6%, with 1,358 results collected so far. The previous week's clearance rate revised to 63.3% at final figures, while this time last year, 60.9% of Melbourne auctions were successful.

Sydney hosted 1,086 auctions last week, up 22.3% from the week prior when 888 homes were auctioned. Last week was Sydney's busiest since late May 2022 (1,109), and was just the third time this year that Sydney auction activity exceeded the 1,000 mark. With 830 results collected so far, Sydney's preliminary clearance rate fell -3.4 percentage points, with 70.8% of auctions reporting a successful result. The fall in the preliminary clearance rate was driven by a rise in both Sydney's withdrawal rate (13.7%), up 80 basis points, and the portion of properties passed in at auction (15.4%) up 2.5 percentage points. This time last year, 61.0% of the 751 auctions held across Sydney reported a successful result.

Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane (238) and Canberra (165) both recorded their busiest auction weeks of the year-to-date. Adelaide (173) hosted the second busiest week of auction activity through the year-to-date, behind the week ending 24th September (176). Adelaide recorded its highest preliminary clearance rate in seven weeks, with 85.1% of the 101 results collected so far returning a successful result. Brisbane's preliminary clearance rate fell -7.2 percentage points to 58.9%, while just over half (50.9%) of the auctions held in Canberra were successful. In Perth, six of the 15 auctions held last week have retuned successful results, while none of the three auctions held in Tasmania last week have so far recorded positive results.

Capital city auction numbers are expected to return to around the 2,100 mark this week, with last week potentially marking the peak in this spring selling season.

By Kaytlin Ezzy, Economist, CoreLogic