Combined capital clearance rate holds below 50% for third consecutive week

The combined capitals preliminary clearance rate found a floor over the past three weeks, holding in the high 40% range. Last week's early result increased slightly to 49.8%, up from 49.2% the previous week, but remained below 50% for the third week in a row.

Across the combined capital cities, 1,447 homes were taken to auction last week, 17.2% fewer than the previous week and 19.3% below the same time last year. Auction activity is expected to soften further this week, with around 1,300 homes currently scheduled to go under the hammer.

Melbourne accounted for the largest share of auctions last week, with 582 homes taken under the hammer, 27.9% fewer than the previous week and 24.1% less than a year ago. The preliminary clearance rate rose by 4.3 percentage points to 54.5%, the highest in three weeks, but remained below 60% for the sixth consecutive week.

After two consecutive weeks below 50%, Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate rose to 51.6% last week, up from 47.3% the previous week. The city’s auction volumes were lower over the week, with 563 homes taken to auction last week, approximately 10.8% fewer than the previous week and 17.8% below the same time last year.

Among the smaller capitals, Brisbane led the volume of auctions with 120 homes taken under the hammer last week, down 11.8% from the previous week and 24.1% lower than a year ago. The preliminary clearance rate was 23.8%, the lowest since early May 2020 (21.4%), and the fourth time in five weeks it has remained below the 40% threshold.

Adelaide recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 45.7% last week, a sharp 23.0 percentage point fall from the previous week’s 68.7%. It was the city’s second-lowest clearance rate so far this year, after the week ending 21 June, when the clearance rate was 40.0%. Auction volume also eased over the week, with 111 homes taken to auction, down 4.3% from the previous week but 8.8% higher than this time last year.

There were just nine auctions in Perth last week, down from 12 over the previous week, while there were no auctions in Tasmania for the third week in a row.