Lowest combined capital preliminary clearance rate so far this year

The preliminary combined capitals auction clearance rate came in at 62.7% last week, the weakest so far this year and on par with the low point recorded at the end of the auction season in mid-December last year. Every capital city recorded a decline in the preliminary clearance rate relative to the week prior.

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The soft auction result comes as the volume of auctions ramps up, with 2,857 homes taken under the hammer last week, 2.4% more than the previous week and the second highest weekly number of homes taken to auction so far this year.

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The volume of auctions is expected to rise further this week, with more than 4,000 homes currently scheduled for auction in the week prior to the Easter long weekend. The week prior to Easter typically marks the seasonal high point in auction activity.

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Melbourne hosted the most auctions last week, with 1,412 homes taken to market, the second highest volume so far this year.  The number of auctions was 6.2% higher than a week ago and 15.6% above levels at the same time last year.  The preliminary clearance rate came in at 64.2% last week, which was 2.7 percentage points lower than the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate and the weakest since the week ending April 20th last year (impacted by the Easter long weekend).

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Sydney hosted 1,008 auctions last week, 2.4% more than the week prior and 24.4% higher than the same week last year.  60.8% of auctions have reported a positive result based on the results collected so far, down 4.3 percentage points on the week prior and the lowest early result since mid-December last year when the preliminary clearance rate fell to 58.1%.

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200 auctions were held across Brisbane last week, the second highest volume through the year to date and 37.9% more auctions that at the same time last year.  65.3% of auctions have reported a successful result so far, down 60 basis points on the previous week and the lowest since the week ending December 21st last year.

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Adelaide saw 131 auctions over the week, down almost 14% from the week prior but 8.3% more auctions that at the same time last year.  The preliminary clearance rate dropped sharply across Adelaide, falling to 65.4% last week, the lowest since the first week of August last year.

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Last week saw 89 homes auctioned in Canberra with a preliminary clearance rate of 53.0%.  Only 16 auctions were held in Perth last week, with 66.7% returning a positive result, and one auction was held in Tasmania, which was passed in.