Melbourne-led recovery sees auction volumes across combined capitals rebound 32.5%

After hosting a quieter auction market the week prior (2,023), a Melbourne-led recovery saw the number of auctions across the combined capitals rebound 32.5% last week. With 2,681 homes auctioned, last week was the capital's third busiest of the year to date, behind only the week ending 2nd May (2,687), and the week ending 29th October (3,381).

With 2,013 results collected so far, the combined capital's auction clearance rate held relatively firm, with last week's preliminary clearance rate coming in at 69.0%. While holding below the 70% mark for a third consecutive week, last week's early results were up slightly (40 basis points) from the previous two weeks, when preliminary results of 68.5% and 68.6% were recorded. With finalised results tracking in the low 60% range, last week's preliminary clearance rate will likely revise slightly below the decade average of 65.8% but will remain above the level seen this time last year (57.6%) when 2,170 auctions were recorded.

Melbourne saw auction activity rebound last week, with 1,180 auctions held across the city. The previous week saw just 468 homes auctioned, with many vendors choosing not to compete with the start of the Spring Racing Carnival. With 897 results collected so far, Melbourne saw a strong rebound in its preliminary clearance rate (67.7%) after being 'disrupted' the previous week (60.8%, revised to 57.7% at final number). This time last year, Melbourne hosted 938 auctions and recorded a final clearance rate of 60.6%.

Holding above the 1,000 mark for the third consecutive week, Sydney hosted 1,041 auctions last week, down from 1,059 the week prior. Despite remaining above the 70% mark, Sydney recorded its lowest preliminary clearance rate in five weeks, at 70.4%. With 814 results collated so far, Sydney's withdrawal rate rose to 15.1%, while the portion of properties passed in at auction dipped to 14.5%. The previous week's clearance rate was 1.5 percentage points higher at 71.9% (which revised down to 65.6% once finalised), while 58.4% of the 775 auctions held this time last year were successful.

The volume of auctions scheduled is set to bounce higher this week, with around 3,200 auctions currently set to go under the hammer.

All data to week ending 12 November 2023

Source: CoreLogic