- The capital cities are set to host 2,725 auctions.
- Sydney is set to host its busiest auction weekend since the end of May 2022.
- Last week's final clearance rate fell to 64.4%.
Australia’s capital cities are set to see 2,725 homes head under the hammer this weekend. This makes it the busiest weekend of the year, and the busiest week since late May 2022 (3,226), according to CoreLogic.
This weekend’s auction numbers represented a 17.8% uplift from the 2,314 homes that were auctioned off last week and more than double the number of homes heading to auction on the same weekend last year (1,316).
| City | Number of homes scheduled for auction |
|---|---|
| Sydney | 1,094 |
| Melbourne | 1,083 |
| Brisbane | 238 |
| Adelaide | 182 |
| Canberra | 108 |
| Perth | 19 |
| Tasmania | 1 |
Source: CoreLogic.
Like the capital city figures, Sydney is set to host its busiest weekend since the end of May 2022, when the Harbour City saw 1,109 homes head under the hammer. The 1,094 homes heading to auction this weekend represent an 18% jump from last week’s 927 and are 35.6% higher than this time last year (807).
Melbourne auction activity has popped back over the thousand mark after dipping to 982 last weekend. This week will be a seven-fold leap from last year’s 130 auctions when the national day of mourning and the AFL grand final saw Victoria celebrate an extra-long weekend.
Both Brisbane and Adelaide expect to host their busiest auction weeks of the year, with Perth and Tasmania also seeing uplifts in the number of homes heading to auction.
An upcoming spade of long weekends across five out of seven states and territories will see just 1,300 homes head to auction.
Final auction statistics for last week
For the week ending 17 September 2023, the final clearance rate was 64.4%. That represented a 1.4 percentage point decline and, therefore, the lowest clearance rate since Easter (61.5%).
CoreLogic’s Kaytlin Ezzy noted the fall was driven by a dip in vendor confidence, with the combined capital’s withdrawal rate rising 1.4 percentage points to 8.8%. The previous week saw 65.8% of auctions record a successful result, while this time last year, 60.1% of auctions were successful.
While the final clearance rate fell, auction activity rose. Last week recorded 2,314 auctions, which beat the figure two weeks prior (2,286) and was the third busiest of the year to date.
Sydney saw its final clearance rate rise 30 basis points, with 67.3% of auctions reporting a successful result. Ezzy noted that:
“The slightly higher clearance rate was the result of a lower portion of properties passed in at auction (19.3%, down -3.3 percentage points week-on-week), offset by a rise in the withdrawal rate (13.4%, up 3.0 percentage points).”
Melbourne saw the final clearance rate fall 2.2 percentage points, however, the rate remained above last year’s 62.4%.
Adelaide recorded the lowest final clearance rate in six weeks, Brisbane saw a 2.4 percentage point rise, and Canberra saw the rate fall 5 percentage points.
