- The weighted average capital city clearance rate is 88.3%, according to CoreLogic
- Melbourne's market continued to recover with number of auctions rising significantly
- According to SQM, 1,423 properties were taken to auction in Melbourne last week
As Australia continues its path out of lockdowns and Delta-induced restrictions, the auction market is roaring back to life, with CoreLogic again recording a clearance rate above 80% across the capital city markets.
This boost has been fuelled by Melbourne as vendor confidence improves, as evident by a reduction in withdrawn auctions.
The weighted average capital city clearance rate reached 83.3% – well above 66.4% during the same week last year. All individual capital cities saw a clearance rate above 80%.
Melbourne
In the Victorian capital, 1,423 properties were taken to auction last week according to SQM, a sharp rise compared to the previous week when 878 auctions were held. SQM’s clearance rate is back above 60% for the second week running, back where it was in July and earlier in March, April and May.
The clearance rate has risen sharply since hitting a low of 16.6% in August.
Corelogic recorded an 81.9% clearance rate from 1,114 auctions – up 68.6% from the previous week, with a median price of $1 million.
The withdrawal rate continues to decline significantly – last week it was 7.7%, a far cry from 61.6% seen in late winter. Of the successful results reported to CoreLogic as of yesterday, 36% were sold before the auction.
Sydney
Sydney’s auction market continues to perform strongly, albeit with a modest decline over the past few weeks, according to SQM.
In the nation’s largest city, 971 properties were taken to auction last week based on SQM’s data, a rise compared to the 796 auctions the previous week.
According to CoreLogic, 832 homes were taken to auction last week, down slightly from 890 auctions originally scheduled. Volumes however are up compared to the previous week (753) and above the same time last year (751).
It should be noted the previous week was the Labour Day long weekend – auctions tend to decline during long weekends.
Given restrictions were relaxed across Sydney yesterday, Corelogic suspects pent-up supply is likely as previously hesitant vendors return to the market.
However, Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) CEO, Tim McKibbin, fears house price growth is likely given the lack of a plan to boost supply more broadly.
“Clearance rates of 80% plus have become the norm in recent weeks and Domain numbers show the median auction house price in Sydney has passed the $2 million mark. Until a coordinated supply solution is implemented, house price growth is likely,” he said.
Elsewhere…
According to SQM, Canberra saw 126 auctions last week with 93.6% of these cleared, with the median price shy of $1 million. Brisbane recorded an 81.3% clearance rate from 198 auctions with Adelaide also performing strongly, achieving 89.7% from 188 total auctions.
