Auction volumes are set to remain relatively low again this week with the Labour Day long weekend in NSW, ACT and SA, and the King’s birthday long weekend in Qld. There are currently 2,007 capital city homes scheduled for auction, up 9.3% on last week when 1,836 homes were taken to auction. One year ago, 2,446 homes were taken to auction across the combined capitals.

Auction activity across Melbourne has bounced back after the AFL Grand final slowdown with 1,089 homes currently scheduled for auction, up from just 236 last week. This time last year, 1,152 auctions were held across Melbourne.

Sydney will see auction volumes drop due to the Labour Day long weekend, with 588 homes scheduled for auction. This is the quietest auction week the city has seen since mid-July (560). Last week saw 1,199 homes taken to auction, while this time last year, 921 auctions were held across the city.

With the exception of Canberra, there is little to no change in auction volumes week-on-week across the smaller capitals. Brisbane is set to host 153 auctions this week, compared to 154 last week, while 129 auctions are scheduled in Adelaide, unchanged week-on-week.  There are just 37 homes set for auction in Canberra this week, down from 108 last week, while ten auctions are scheduled in Perth, compared to nine last week. There is just one auction on the radar in Tasmania this week.

We are expecting to see auction volumes rise again next week with around 2,650 capital city homes currently scheduled for auction.

Summary of last week’s results

There were 1,836 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals last week, with the lower volumes attributed to the AFL Grand final in Melbourne. The previous week saw 2,781 homes auctioned, while this time last year, 1,198 auctions were held across the combined capitals.

The combined capital city clearance rate came in at 60.6% last week, declining for the sixth consecutive week. This is the lowest clearance rate we have seen since the week ending 17th December 2023 (56.5%). The previous week recorded a clearance rate of 60.7%, while this time last year, 64.4% of auctions were successful.

There were just 236 auctions held in Melbourne last week (AFL Grand final), down from 1,335 the previous week, the busiest auction week the city had seen since the lead up to Easter 2024 (1,760). Melbourne’s clearance rate held below 60% for the second consecutive week, slipping to 57.0% last week, the lowest clearance rate the city has seen since 9th June (55.6%). One year ago, 66.5% of the 203 homes taken to auction were successful.

Sydney saw 1,199 homes taken to auction last week, tying with the week prior to Easter 2024 as the busiest auction week since the lead up to Easter 2022 (1,490). One year ago, 714 homes were taken to auction. Sydney’s final clearance rate has been declining for the past three weeks, coming in at 60.9% last week, the lowest clearance rate the city has seen all year.

Brisbane (154) was the busiest auction market across the smaller capitals last week, followed by Adelaide (129) and Canberra (108). Adelaide recorded the highest clearance rate at 75.2%, followed by Canberra (62.0%) and Brisbane (51.9%). There were nine auctions held in Perth last week, three of which were successful, while the one auction held in Tasmania last week was passed in.

For the full Auction Market Preview, which includes a summary of last week’s clearance rates by sub-region.

Related Readings 

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Auction activity up 10.2% across the combined capitals - CoreLogic 

Preliminary clearance rate nudges higher week-on-week - CoreLogic

Just under 2,100 homes set for auction across the combined capitals - CoreLogic