Capital cities record highest preliminary clearance rate since March

Of the 1,433 results collected so far, 77.0 per cent were successful, which is the highest preliminary clearance rate recorded since the week ending 1 March (77.1 per cent).

In the previous week, a preliminary clearance rate of 76.2 per cent was recorded across the combined capitals, revising down to 66.9 per cent at final figures. This time last year, 68.0 per cent of reported auctions were successful.

Melbourne was host to 604 auctions this week, increasing from 490 over the previous week and 255 this time last year.

“The week leading up to Melbourne Cup traditionally sees auction volumes dip across the city; however, this year doesn’t appear to be impacted to the extent that we would usually see, which is not overly surprising given restrictions across the city have only started to ease,” the report said.

Of the 530 results collected so far this week, 75.8 per cent have been successful, increasing on last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 72.6 per cent, which revised down to 63.5 per cent by final collection.

In Sydney, 864 homes were taken to auction this week, increasing from 700 over the previous week and 843 this time last year.

The higher volumes saw the preliminary clearance rate hold reasonably firm at 79.6 per cent, while the previous week recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 80.4 per cent, revising down to 70.4 per cent at final figures. This time last year, 74.6 per cent of reported auctions were successful.

Overtaking Sydney are Canberra and Adelaide, with preliminary clearance rates at 81.7 per cent and 77.2 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Brisbane saw a preliminary clearance rate of 60.3 per cent, while Perth saw 55.6 per cent. Tasmania only had one auction for the week.

The number of new listings during the month to 25 October was highest in Melbourne at 8,268, with a -3.0 per cent change in the past 12 months, followed by Sydney at 6,828 (-10.4 per cent), Brisbane at 3,830 (-24.9 per cent) and Perth at 3,552 (-10.6 per cent).

Melbourne recorded the highest total number of listings at 23,725, which was a -6.2 per cent difference from last year. Following the Vic capital was Sydney (20,998), Brisbane (17,085) and Perth (14,988).

Darwin recorded the lowest number of new listings during the month at 99, with an annual change of -53.1 per cent, as well as the lowest number of total listings at 671, with a -41.5 per cent annual change.

Home values

Across the major capital cities, Brisbane saw the highest weekly change in median home values at 0.2 per cent, while other cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, saw a slightly lower 0.1 per cent change.

Over the month, Adelaide had the highest increase at 1.1 per cent, while Melbourne stood as the only capital city that saw a decrease, declining by -0.1 per cent.

Looking at the year-to-date change, Adelaide remains the winner, with an increase of 3.4 per cent, followed by Brisbane and Sydney with 1.9 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively. Melbourne and Perth both saw declines at -2.9 per cent and -0.3 per cent, respectively.

Perth remains the most affordable capital city for houses, with a median price of $475,000, while Adelaide was the most affordable for units, with the median price of $360,000.

Meanwhile, average time on market for houses was longest in Darwin at 63 days, followed by Brisbane (56), Perth (51), Melbourne (48), Sydney and Adelaide (36), Canberra (35) and Hobart (27). For units, Brisbane recorded the highest number at 70 days, while Hobart was the lowest at 26 days.

Vendor discounting across capital cities range from -3.3 per cent to -0.7 per cent for houses, with Darwin having the highest discounts and Canberra the lowest; and -3.8 per cent to -1.8 per cent for units, with Perth having the highest discounts and Canberra the lowest.