Auction clearance rates see slight uptick for quarter

This, however, is down compared to this quarter last year, which saw a clearance rate of 64.6 per cent.

Cameron Kusher, research analyst at CoreLogic, said these results were reflective of the current property market.

“Auction volumes and clearance rates are mirroring the broader slowdown in property transaction and housing market conditions,” Mr Kusher said.

“Vendors are less confident of achieving a positive result at auction, and this has further impacted auction volumes during what is traditionally a quiet start to the year.”

Looking at the major capital cities, Sydney’s clearance rate of 53.2 per cent was the strongest over the quarter, according to the report.

This was followed by Melbourne’s 51.8 per cent, Adelaide’s 48.8 per cent, Canberra’s 45.3 per cent, Hobart’s 44.8 per cent, Perth’s 31.4 per cent and Brisbane’s 31.3 per cent.

All capital cities saw auction rates rise, with the exception of Canberra, which declined 1.6 per cent, and Hobart, which declined 5.2 per cent.

Melbourne saw the highest level of auctions at 6,375, while Hobart saw the fewest at just 45 – yet it was the only capital city to see an increase in auction volumes over the last quarter.

Looking down at a suburb level, Melbourne’s Craigieburn Reservior area saw the highest number of auctions for the quarter at 99, followed by Sydney’s Randwick at 73, Brisbane’s Sunnybank Hills at 24, Canberra’s Curtain at 23, Adelaide’s Norwood and Adelaide area at 15 and Perth’s Dianella and East Perth area at 10.

Meanwhile, Sydney’s Erskineville saw a clearance rate of 83.3 per cent, Melbourne’s Hillside saw a clearance rate of 75 per cent, and Brisbane’s Sunnybank Hills saw a clearance rate of 35 per cent.

The report also took an in-depth look at the Sydney and Melbourne markets:

Sydney

The majority of Sydney sub-regions saw their clearance rates for the quarter improve, with the only one missing out being the Central Coast, declining 0.9 of a percentage point.

Ryde meanwhile saw the best improvement, rising 20.7 per cent up to 61.9 per cent.

All the sub-regions, however, had lower auction volumes. The North Sydney and Hornsby region was labelled by CoreLogic as an auction hotspot, with the highest number of auctions at 839 and the highest region clearance rate of 62 per cent.

Following this was the Eastern Suburbs, as they saw 832 auctions and a clearance rate of 56.6 per cent.

In last place was the Outer West and Blue Mountains region, which had both the lowest clearance rate and auction volumes for the capital city area at 30 per cent and 40, respectively.

On a suburb level, Erskineville saw the highest clearance rate at 83.3 per cent, followed by Cremorne at 80.6 per cent and Epping at 75 per cent.

Melbourne

Every single sub-region in Melbourne saw their clearance rates improve for the quarter, with the Inner East seeing the greatest improvement at 12.7 per cent and the highest clearance rate at 57 per cent, while West Melbourne saw the lowest clearance rate at 44.4 per cent.

Inner Melbourne saw the highest level of auction volumes at 1,288 properties, while the Mornington Peninsula saw the lowest at 213.

At the suburb level, Craigieburn and Reservior were the most active suburbs for auctions over the quarter, seeing 99 auctions. Hillside had the highest clearance rate at 75 per cent, followed by Fitzroy at 73.9 per cent and Caulfield South at 71.1 per cent.