Supply speaks volumes as auction numbers stay strong

There are 3,643 properties up for auction, which represents a 10.7 per cent increase over last week’s 3,292 homes auctioned and more than double the number of auctions held at this time last year (1,728).

CoreLogic researcher Kaytlin Ezzy noted that with 1,588 residences expected to go under the hammer this week, Melbourne auctions lead the pack with around 44 per cent of all scheduled capital city auctions. This is an increase of 13.6 per cent from last week’s 1,398 auctions and at least two times more than the 604 auctions registered at this time last year.

This week is poised to surpass last week as the busiest since late March, with 1,332 auctions scheduled around Sydney. NSW’s capital will host more than 1,000 auctions for the third week in a row, continuing the rising trend in auction volumes that began in late August. There were 1,239 auctions held in Sydney last week, compared to 840 auctions this time last year.

Across the capital cities, Ms Ezzy highlighted that Brisbane is set to have its busiest week since November 2014, as it hosts the most auctions this week. There are 290 homes due to go under the hammer.

Following Brisbane are Adelaide with 246 homes and Canberra with 161, which will have their busiest auction week since CoreLogic records began in 2008 if all of their scheduled auctions go forward this week.

There are 21 residences expected to go under the hammer in Perth, while five auctions are planned in Tasmania.

Last week’s results

Last week, 3,292 properties were auctioned across the combined capitals. While this was lower than the previous week’s 3,546, it still was crowned the third busiest of the year so far.

While more supply is clearly in the mix, there has been a corresponding drop in clearance rates. Successful auctions are at 73 per cent, down from 76.8 per cent the week before.

This is the lowest capital city clearance rate since early September, when COVID-19 limitations were at their most severe. Last year, out of 1,757 auctions held, 69 per cent were successful.

Last week, 1,398 residences were auctioned in Melbourne, a sharp decrease of 20.2 per cent from the previous week (1,752) but still a far cry from the volume seen at this time last year (611).

Melbourne’s 67.7 per cent successful result gave it the lowest clearance rate since the middle of September, despite volumes exceeding 1,000 for the sixth week in a row. The week before, 75.2 per cent of auctions were successful, compared to 68 per cent last year at this time.

With 1,239 auctions occurring around the city last week, Sydney had its busiest auction week since late March and its second-busiest of the year. The week before, 1,151 residences were auctioned, compared to 851 auctions at the same time last year.

Rising volumes in Sydney caused the clearance rate to fall even lower to 74.1 per cent, its lowest level since late July. It is a slight dip from the previous week’s figure of 76.6 per cent but still higher than the 73.3 per cent this time last year.

For the sixth week in a row, Canberra had the highest capital city clearance rate of 88.9 per cent, making it the city’s eighth straight week with a clearance rate above 80 per cent.

This week, 80.2 per cent of auctions in Adelaide were successful, down from 85.2 per cent the week prior.

Comparatively, Brisbane’s clearance rate increased from 76.6 per cent to 83.3 per cent.

In Perth, 54.5 per cent of bids were successful, while three of the five auctions staged in Tasmania were also successful.