Preliminary clearance rates inch higher as capital city auction activity returns to trend

The number of homes taken to auction across the combined capitals doubled last week, with 2,436 homes taken under the hammer. A string of public holidays saw just 1,198 homes auctioned the week prior, while 1,815 auctions were held this time last year.

Driven by a decrease in both the withdrawal rate (10.8%) and portion of properties passed in at auction (18.0%), the combined capital's preliminary clearance rate rose 70 basis points to 71.0% with 1,901 results collected so far. The previous week's preliminary clearance rate (70.3%) was revised down to 64.4% at final numbers, while this time last year, 60.6% of auctions held returned a successful result.

There were 918 auctions held across Sydney last week, up 28.6% compared to the 714 held the week prior. Falling below the 70% mark for the first time in nine weeks, Sydney's preliminary clearance rate came in at 69.7%, with 713 results collected so far. The decline was driven by vendors, with Sydney's withdrawal rate rising to 17.4%, while the portion of properties passed in at auction fell to 12.9%. The previous week's preliminary clearance rate was 2.0 percentage points higher (71.7%), revising down to 64.0% at final figures, while this time last year, 59.4% of the 681 homes auctioned across Sydney were successful.

Auction activity across Melbourne rose back above the 1,000 mark for the fifth time in seven weeks, with 1,138 homes auctioned across the city. The busiest auction week since early April, last week's volumes were significantly higher than the 203 auctions held the week prior and 53.2% above the 743 auctioned this time last year. With 931 results collected to date, Melbourne's preliminary clearance rose back above the 70% mark, lifting 6.7 percentage points to 72.7% last week. The previous week's preliminary clearance rate (66.0%) was revised to 66.5% at final numbers, while this time last year, a final clearance rate of 62.2% was recorded.

Across the smaller capital cities, weekly auction activity rose across Adelaide (49.4%), Canberra (48.6%), and Brisbane (22.9%), and fell in Perth (-20.0%). Brisbane was the busiest market among the smaller capitals, with 134 homes auctioned, followed by Adelaide (124) and Canberra (107). Adelaide recorded the strongest preliminary clearance rate across the smaller capitals, with 80.8% of auctions reporting a successful result, followed by Brisbane (72.3%) and Canberra (56.5%). In Perth, two of the six results collected so far were successful, and one of the three homes auctioned in Tasmania has recorded a successful result.

All data to week ending 8 October 2023

Source: CoreLogic