The volume of capital city auctions was roughly in line with the prior week, with 2,163 auctions held (2,146 the week prior) but well up on the same week a year ago when 1,887 auctions were held.

The higher auction count relative to a year ago is reflected more broadly in CoreLogic listings data which is showing the flow of new listings over the past four weeks to be 17% higher than a year ago and almost 7% above the previous five-year average.

Melbourne moved through a fourth week where more than 1,000 auctions were held, with 1,025 homes going under the hammer. At the same time last year 844 auctions were held, highlighting the pick-up in Melbourne listing activity.

More broadly, the number of new listings added to the Melbourne market over the past four weeks was 35% higher than a year ago and 24% above the previous five-year average for this time of the year.

There were 747 auctions held in Sydney, up from 725 the previous week and 698 a year ago. The preliminary clearance rate slipped a little lower last week, to 72.7%, continuing an easing trend that has been evident since the first week of May. Last week’s preliminary clearance rate is the lowest of the year to-date.

Adelaide was the busiest of the smaller auction markets, hosting 149 auctions, only one more than Brisbane (148 auctions held), while the ACT was host to 82 auctions (highest volume since the last week of April). Only nine auctions were held in Perth and 3 in Tasmania.

The preliminary clearance rate across Adelaide has held high, but at 78.4% was the lowest since the last week of April. Brisbane’s early clearance rate, at 69.5%, was on par with the previous week (69.6%) and the ACT rose to 59.3% from 57.1% the prior week.

We are expecting the number of auctions to rise this week, with close to 2,400 auctions currently scheduled, while the following week is set to see a sharp drop with closer to 1,300 auctions being marketed.

By Caitlin Fono, Research Analyst, CoreLogic Australia