Auction activity recovers following public holidays: CoreLogic

CoreLogic’s Property Market Indicator has found that the number of homes taken under the hammer doubled across the combined capital cities in the week ended 8 October 2023, finishing off at 2,436 homes.

According to CoreLogic, the week ending 8 October saw capital city auction activity return to trend following a string of public holidays the week prior, leaving only 1,198 homes being auctioned. The same time last year saw 1,815 homes go under the hammer.

The combined capital’s preliminary clearance rate rose 70 bps to 71 per cent with 1,901 results collected thus far that was driven by a decrease in both the withdrawal rate (10.8 per cent) and the portion of properties passed in at auction (18 per cent), CoreLogic confirmed.

The preliminary clearance rate of the preceding week was revised down to 64.4 per cent (originally 70.3 per cent) at final numbers, up from the 60.6 per cent of auctions returning a successful result during the same time in 2022.

Sydney saw 918 held auctions during the week, up by 28.6 per cent on the week prior (714 auctions), with the preliminary clearance rate falling below 70 per cent for the first time in nine weeks, down to 69.7 per cent with 713 results collected so far.

In Melbourne, auction activity rose back above the 1,000 homes mark for the fifth time in seven weeks with 1,138 homes auctioned across the city in its busiest auction week since early April.

Auction volumes in Melbourne were “significantly higher” than the 203 auctions held the preceding week and 53.2 per cent above the 743 homes auctioned in 2022. The week ended 8 October saw Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rise back above the 70 per cent market, up by 6.7 percentage points to 72.7 per cent.

Brisbane recorded the busiest market among the smaller capitals, with 134 homes auctioned, followed by Adelaide at 124 homes, and Canberra at 107 homes.

Weekly auction activity rose across Adelaide at 49.4 per cent, Canberra at 48.6 per cent, and Brisbane at 22.9 per cent.

Perth was the only recorded capital city to see a decline in weekly auction activity, down by 20 per cent.

The strongest preliminary clearance rate among the smaller capitals was recorded in Adelaide with 80.8 per cent of successful results, followed by Brisbane (72.3 per cent) and Canberra (56.5 per cent).

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