Auction activity to remain subdued before uptick
The number of homes set to go under the hammer this week remains low, with the lifting of bans on on-site auctions and inspections not likely to create a positive flow-on effect until the next couple of weeks.
According to CoreLogic’s latest Auction Market Preview, for the week ending 17 May 2020, the number of homes set to go to auction across the combined capital cities is 365. This marks a lower result than last week’s 480.
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“While most states have lifted the ban on on-site auctions and inspections, it’s likely to take a few weeks before we see an uplift in scheduled volumes, with vendors and agents generally relying on at least a four-week marketing campaign leading up to the auction event,” CoreLogic said.
“There are 110 Melbourne homes scheduled for auction this week, down on the 163 held last week.
“Sydney is expected to be the busiest auction market for another week, with 167 scheduled auctions this week, down on the 216 held last week.
“Brisbane (28) and Perth (8) are the only capital city auction markets expected to see an increase in volumes over the week, with volumes lower across Adelaide (15) and Canberra (37). Tasmania has no scheduled auctions this week.”
In terms of where results ended up last week, the capital city final auction clearance rate came in at 59.9 per cent. This is the highest final result seen since mid-March.
“The improved clearance rate was across a lower volume of auctions with 480 held, down on the 612 held over the week prior when 47.5 per cent cleared,” CoreLogic said.
“Of the 395 results collected, 22 per cent were withdrawn, which was much lower than the 50 per cent seen a few weeks ago, which is the main factor in the improvement of clearances rates.
“The number of ‘sold prior’ results were slightly lower this week [but] still remain higher than we would usually see, with 43.8 per cent of properties selling prior to the scheduled date.”
Melbourne’s final auction clearance rate came in at 56.5 per cent across 163 auctions, while Sydney recorded 66.3 per cent across 216 auctions.
“Canberra returned the highest final clearance rate of the smaller auction markets, with 56.1 per cent of homes selling. Adelaide followed closely with a final clearance rate of 51.9 per cent,” CoreLogic said.
