The most successful auction day in Australia revealed

Saturdays at 8am came in second, with a slightly lower clearance rate of 90.5 per cent.

“Most auctions in Australia are held on Saturdays between 10am and 1pm, but new data from Ray White shows that looking at a midweek auction could create more competition,” Ms Conisbee said.

“Holding an auction at a time that is less standard can work to your advantage if selling – there is simply less competition from other properties going to auction at these times.”

Fridays at 7pm posted a surprisingly strong clearance rate of 87.2 per cent, followed by Saturdays at 6pm with 84.4 per cent. A clearance rate of 81.8 per cent was clocked at auctions held on Saturdays at 5pm, Thursdays at 12pm and Wednesdays at 4pm.

Meanwhile, Sundays at 4pm got an 80 per cent success rate, while Tuesdays at 4pm and Thursdays at 5pm got 78.6 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively.

In terms of auction activity, Tuesdays at 5pm attracted 5.9 average active buyers, followed by Thursdays at 1pm and Fridays at 7pm with 4.6, Fridays at 1pm with 4.5 and Sundays at 4pm with 4.4.

“Tuesday evening has been working really well for us… because people have usually been through the house on the weekend and it’s still fresh in their mind. It also puts our properties ahead of some other homes that may be going to auction later in the week,” Ray White Lara principal Jo Boothroyd said.

“Tuesday is very convenient for most people too as they usually don’t have other commitments. Once you get later in the week, other things start to get in the way and attendance can begin to slip.”

Capital cities

Looking closer into each capital city, the best time to hold an auction varied significantly, Ray White noted.

Sydney’s most active auction day was Sunday at 11am, with an average of 4.3 active buyers, while Melbourne’s most active auction day was Friday at 7pm, with an average of four active bidders.

In Brisbane, the auction market was most active on Monday at 6pm, with an average of 4.9 active bidders, while Adelaide’s busiest auction day was Friday at 7pm, with an average of 4.9 active bidders as well.

Perth is the only market where the standard midday Saturday auction yielded the highest average active bidders at 2.5.