Following an easing in auction activity last week (2,023), CoreLogic is expecting weekly auction numbers to rise 39.2% this week. With 2,816 capital city homes going under the hammer, this week is set to overtake the week ending 2nd April (2,687) as the second busiest of the year, behind only the week ending 29th October when a Super Saturday event saw 3,381 homes auctioned. This time last year, 2,170 homes went under the hammer across the capitals.

Melbourne is set to host the city's second busiest auction week of the year, with 1,218 homes currently scheduled for auction. Up 160.3% from the previous week (468) when the start of the Spring Racing Carnival saw auction numbers plummet, this week's expected auction numbers are 29.9% above the 938 seen this week last year.

With 1,125 homes scheduled for auction, this week is set to overtake the week ending 29th May 2022 (1,109) as Sydney's busiest auction week since mid-April 2022 (1,490). This week's scheduled volume of auctions are 6.2% above the numbers recorded last week (1,059) and are 45.2% higher than this time last year when 775 auctions were held.  

Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide is set to be the busiest auction market for the second consecutive week, with 163 auctions scheduled, despite expecting an -8.4% decline in weekly auction activity. Canberra is also expecting auction activity to fall (-11.0%) this week, with 130 homes set to go under the hammer, while 157 homes are scheduled for auction across Brisbane, up 4.7% week-on-week. In Perth, 20 homes are set to go under the hammer, while three auctions are expected in Tasmania this week.

Summary of last week’s results

There were 2,023 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities last week, down from 3,381 the week prior when the capitals recorded their busiest auction week in more than 18 months. After recording the lowest final clearance rate since Easter (61.5%) the previous week (62.9%), the combined capital city clearance rate lifted 90 basis points, with 63.8% of last week’s auctions reporting a successful result. Buyers drove the uptick in the clearance rate, with the portion of properties passed in at auction falling to 26.3%, while the combined capital's withdrawal rate (10.0%) rose to the highest rate in five weeks. This time last year, 59.0% of the 1,917 auctions held across the capitals were successful.

Melbourne recorded the largest decline in weekly auction activity, down -72.9%, due to the start of the Spring Racing Carnival, with just 468 auctions held across the city. The previous week saw Melbourne record its busiest auction week since mid-April 2022 (1,795), with 1,725 homes auctioned, while this time last year, 797 homes went under the hammer. The decline in auction numbers was accompanied by a dip in Melbourne's final clearance rate (57.7%), with the rate dropping below the 60% mark for the first time since Easter (50.9%). The previous week's clearance rate was 5.5 percentage points higher at 63.2%, while this time last year, 58.4% of auctions were successful.

Across Sydney, auction activity held relatively steady last week (1,059), down just -1.1% from the 1,071 auctions held the previous week. Sydney's final clearance rate came in at 65.6%, up 1.4 percentage points from the week prior when 64.2% of auctions were successful. Despite the rebound in the final clearance rate, Sydney recorded the highest withdrawal rate in four weeks (13.3%), while the portion of properties passed in at auction fell -3.1 percentage points to 21.1%. Over the same week last year, 704 homes were taken to auction across the city, and a final clearance rate of 63.7% was reported.

Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide was the busiest auction market last week, up 5.3% week-on-week, with 178 homes taken to auction, followed by Brisbane (down -35.9%) with 150 auctions and Canberra (down -11.5%) with 146 auctions. Adelaide recorded the highest clearance rate amongst the smaller capitals, with 78.1% of auctions returning a successful result, while Brisbane and Canberra recorded a clearance rate of 64.0% and 57.5%, respectively. In Perth, 18 auctions were held last week, with 38.9% recording a successful result, while none of the four auctions held in Tasmania were successful.

By Kaytlin Ezzy, Economist, CoreLogic Australia