Multiple state lockdowns to put downward pressure on auctions

Despite the current slight increase in auction volumes week-on-week, CoreLogic said the multiple state lockdowns are likely to trigger a downward revision.

In Sydney, the impacts of the extended lockdown seem to have already manifested as the NSW capital stands to be the only capital city to see a lower volume of auctions over the week, with 652 homes scheduled to go under the hammer – down significantly from last week’s 769.

Melbourne, on the other hand, still has a considerable 1,087 scheduled auctions – up from last week’s 967 and almost double the volumes recorded last year at 594 – though this is likely to revise down as the Victorian capital lives through a second week of a fifth lockdown.

Meanwhile, auction volumes are set to increase across all of the smaller capital cities this week, with Brisbane expected to be the busiest smaller auction market with 171 auctions scheduled.

This is followed by Adelaide with 120 homes scheduled to go under the hammer, but with the announcement of a seven-day lockdown, agents can also expect this figure to fall.

Canberra and Perth have slightly lower scheduled auction volumes at 98 and 23, respectively.

Last week’s results

CoreLogic revealed a final auction clearance rate of 73.7 per cent out of 2,097 auctions over the week ending 18 July – on par with the previous week’s results when only seven extra auctions were held.

Canberra was once again the most successful capital city auction market, with the highest final clearance rate of 83.9 per cent resulting from 87 auctions.

Adelaide followed with 81.8 per cent out of 100 auctions, then Sydney with 76.6 per cent out of 769 auctions, Melbourne with 71.5 per cent out of 967 auctions, Brisbane with 64.3 per cent out of 159 auctions and Perth with 41.7 per cent out of 12 auctions.

Of the capital cities, only Sydney and Melbourne saw their clearance rates increase week-on-week.