Auction volumes bounce after slow start to 2020

Corelogic has found that auction volumes almost doubled in the week ending 9 February 2020, with 1,122 homes taken to auction across the capital cities throughout the week, compared with 625 auctions the previous week.

The property research group also reported a preliminary clearance rate of 70 per cent, expected to be revised lower yet still come in above the final clearance rate of 61 per cent from the previous week.

This week saw the first uptick in auction activity, following on from a “seasonal slowdown”, which saw lower volumes and clearance rates in the first weeks of 2020, according to CoreLogic, and the group expects volumes to continue to increase in the coming weeks.

The results are also an improvement on those of the same week last year, when housing prices were still falling and auction markets were weaker.

The same week last year saw 928 capital city homes go under the hammer, with just over half being sold.

Across the individual capital cities, auction volumes increased in all cities in the week ending 9 February, apart from Adelaide, which saw a slight decrease in auction activity, and Canberra, where activity remained fairly stable week-on-week.

Sydney experienced the busiest auction market for the week, with 428 auctions held across the city, and a preliminary clearance rate of just under 80 per cent (79.9 per cent), the highest preliminary clearance rate for the week across the cities.

The same week last year had 322 Sydney homes taken to auction, with a final clearance rate of 54.0 per cent.

Melbourne saw 401 homes taken to auction over the week, with a 74 per cent preliminary clearance rate, compared with last year’s results, where 350 Melbourne homes went under the hammer, with just above half (52.4 per cent) achieving a successful result.

Brisbane recorded the poorest performance for auctions over the week, with 114 homes achieving a preliminary clearance rate of 36.4 per cent, followed closely by Perth, with just 30 homes taken to auction, and a preliminary clearance of 37.5 per cent.

Both cities’ clearance rates were down on the same week in 2019, with Brisbane achieving a 37.1 per cent success rate, and Perth recording a clearance rate of 48.1 per cent in that week.

[Related: Housing construction recovery ‘not far off’]