After recording the busiest auction week of the year-to-date last week, capital city auction activity is set to ease, with 2,105 homes currently scheduled for auction. Led by a decline across Melbourne, this week's expected auction numbers are -37.7% below the 3,381 auctions seen last week and -11.0% below the average weekly volumes (2,365) seen through spring so far. This week last year, weaker selling conditions saw just 1,917 homes auctioned.

Sydney is set to host the busiest auction market this week, with 1,161 homes scheduled for auction. Up 8.4% week-on-week, this week is set to overtake last week (1,071) as Sydney's busiest auction week since mid-April 2022 (1,490). This time last year, the city saw 704 homes go under the hammer.  

In anticipation of next week's Melbourne Cup carnival, auction activity across Melbourne is set to plummet this week, with 457 homes expected to go under the hammer. Last week (1,725) saw Melbourne host its busiest auction week since the week before Easter 2022 (1,795), while 797 auctions were held across the city this week last year.

Adelaide is expecting its busiest auction week of the year-to-date, with 179 homes scheduled for auction, up 5.9% from the week prior (169). Auction activity across Brisbane is set to decline -40.2% week-on-week, with 140 homes set to go under the hammer, while Canberra's auction volume is expected to fall -12.1% to 145 this week. Across Perth, there are currently 19 homes scheduled for auction, while four auctions are set to be held in Tasmania this week.

Summary of last week’s results

Capital city auction activity skyrocketed last week, with 3,381 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals. With 2,690 homes auctioned on Saturday alone, last week overtook the week before Easter (2,687) as the capitals' busiest auction week of the year and the busiest week in more than 18 months. The previous week's auction numbers (2,463) were 27.2% lower, while this time last year, 1,921 homes went under the hammer.

The additional auction numbers tested the depth of buyer demand, with 62.9% of auctions reporting a successful result. This was the lowest final clearance rate since the week ending 9th April (61.5%) when Easter impacted purchasing activity. Last week's clearance rate was 2.8 percentage points lower than the clearance rate recorded the previous week (65.7%), but remained 4.1 percentage points above the rate seen this time last year (58.8%).

Last week's decline in the clearance rate was primarily driven by buyers, with more choice, less urgency and the prospect for a Melbourne Cup day rate rise, seeing the portion of properties passed in at auction (29.0%) rising to its highest in almost seven months. Meanwhile, vendors remained more resolute, with the withdrawal rate falling 30 basis points to 8.1%.