- Volumes expected to dip by 7%, according to Domain
- Melbourne's volumes expected to decline according to both CoreLogic and Domain
- Auction market in Melbourne expected to improve over the coming weeks
Nationally, auction volumes are expected to dip 7% this week across all cities, bar Sydney and Canberra.
According to Domain 1,037 auctions are scheduled, while CoreLogic expects 1,680 to be held – however, the latter’s auction preview was released on Wednesday, and some auctions have since been withdrawn.
Melbourne’s auction volumes are expected to decline by 34% this week with only 202 being scheduled. This is significantly less than Corelogic’s 364 count.
CoreLogic’s Kaytlin Ezzy noted that last week around 31.5% of Melbournes auctions were rescheduled with 35.9% withdrawn.
“Although lockdowns are still in place, restrictions around home inspections have eased which should see a further reduction in both postponed and withdrawn auctions over the coming weeks.
“This time last year, while in the midst of its second COVID wave, just 40 auctions were held across the city.”
Kaytlin Ezzy, CoreLogic
Domain’s Dr Nicola Powell also noted the easing of property inspection restrictions is likely to result in an uptick in auctions over the next few weeks, predicting that Melbourne will have the highest growth nationally over the next few weeks.
“The fall in Melbourne could be attributed to sellers offering onsite inspections with prospective buyers now that private inspections are back on the cards for Melburnians,” said Dr Powell.
The auction volume trend in Melbourne has been below the September average for all four weeks this month.
SQM Research data reaffirms how relatively low both the clearance rate and volumes have been in the Victorian capital over the past few weeks.
Sydney and Canberra continue to outperform
Conversely, both Sydney and Canberra auction volumes have jumped above their long term averages by 5% and 4% respectively.
Sydney auction numbers are expected to skyrocket 121% this week with a 9% increase in Canberra.
Brisbane and Adelaide are all expected to record declines in the number of auctions, although these markets traditionally have relatively low auction volumes.
Last week, the majority of auctions were cleared nationally, with CoreLogic recording a final clearance rate of 75.1% with SQM Research recording 70.8%. According to Domain, all cities except Melbourne returned a clearance rate above 80%.
