Volume rise sees clearance rate hit 60% after 10-week wait

Melbourne, which was the nation’s busiest capital city, hosted 622 auctions this week — a level nearly identical to the previous week’s 619. So far, the Victorian capital has registered a preliminary clearance rate of 65.5 per cent from 478 results, with this representing the highest clearance rate since the 68.4 per cent recorded in the week ending 1 May — before the RBA’s first cash rate hike.

For the second week running, the city’s west was its worst-performing subregion, with a 48.2 per cent success rate from 76 auctions. Conversely, Melbourne’s south-east was its strongest performer, hosting 69 auctions for a preliminary clearance rate of 77.6 per cent. 

In Sydney, activity was up both week on week and year on year, with the city’s 620 auctions bettering last week’s 480. The city’s preliminary clearance rate dropped 90 basis points this week, down to 59.7 per cent from 467 results collected so far. Crucially, the city saw a 25.5 per cent withdrawal rate, which CoreLogic stated was key to its falling clearance rate.

The Sutherland region recorded the lowest preliminary clearance rate of any of the harbour city’s subregions, with 50 per cent of the 31 auctions held in the area returning a positive result. Meanwhile, at 69.2 per cent, the collective area of North Sydney and Hornsby was the city’s best-performing region and its busiest, having hosted 125 auctions.  

Across the smaller capital cities, activity decreased 12.1 per cent in Brisbane — however, the Queensland capital remained the busiest, hosting 131 auctions — and 11.7 per cent in Adelaide (128 auctions).

Canberra received a 23.2 per cent boost in volume last week, with the Australian capital hosting 85 auctions, while Perth hosted 16 auctions.

Adelaide returned the highest preliminary clearance rate of the smaller capital cities, 71.6 per cent, followed by Canberra, 63.9 per cent, and Brisbane, 40.7 per cent. 

Of Perth’s 11 results, five have been positive, while the single auction held in Tasmania was a success.