Auction preview: Melbourne gains while Sydney wanes ahead of public holiday

However, the actual number of auctions is likely to be revised downwards in step with the trend previously observed throughout lockdown periods, according to researcher Kaytlin Ezzy. 

Comparatively, the recent figures show a significant improvement to the 648 auctions held in the same period last year, when Australia was grappling with the second COVID wave. 

Melbourne is leading the pack, with the Victorian capital expected to host the most auctions this week. The city is scheduled to hold 779 auctions, up from 352 auctions the previous week. This time last year, only 55 auctions were held across Melbourne. 

Meanwhile, Sydney has 778 homes set to go under the hammer, down 6.2 per cent from last week’s 829 but far higher than last year’s 430. 

Ms Ezzy is attributing the small decline to the traditional lull observed ahead of the Labour Day long weekend rather than a reversal in Sydney’s recently observed upward trend in volumes. 

In the smaller capital city markets, Brisbane is set to be the busiest, with 170 scheduled auctions in the coming week. This is followed by Adelaide and Canberra, with 133 and 112 auctions currently scheduled, respectively. Perth is expected to host 13 auctions this week, while Tasmania has two auctions scheduled. 

Ms Ezzy noted that the recent outbreak of COVID cases across the greater Brisbane area may lead to the city’s scheduled auctions being revised downward, as the threat of another snap lockdown looms over the Queensland capital. 

Last week’s results

Across all capital cities, a final clearance rate of 80.6 per cent was recorded for the week ending 26 September, reaching the highest clearance rate since late March 2021.

The final rate is up from the previous week’s clearance rate of 75.1 per cent out of 1,672 results. During the same period last year, 1,082 homes were put on the block, with only 64.2 per cent resulting in a sale. 

CoreLogic’s final figures from last week showed there were 1,626 homes taken to auction across the capitals, down from the 1,680 originally scheduled. This equated to a 3.2 per cent reschedule rate, the lowest seen since late June. 

In Melbourne, only 352 properties were taken to auction last week, the lowest auction volume the city recorded since early April. 

On the upside, the Victorian capital’s clearance rate continued to see an upward trend in the clearance rate, a streak that started at the end of August. Out of the 338 homes that were auctioned during the period, 75.6 per cent found new owners.

The final figures are up from the 58.5 per cent success rate out of the 431 auctions over the prior week. It’s also higher than the numbers seen during the same period last year when only 45.0 per cent of the 40 auctions held were successful.

Last week, Melbourne’s withdrawal rate declined to 17.2 per cent, a marked improvement from the 35.9 per cent seen over the previous week.

As restrictions continue to ease and as one-on-one inspections become a norm once more, the trend towards higher clearance rates and lower withdrawal rates is expected to continue for Melbourne, Ms Ezzy said.

Meanwhile, Sydney’s clearance rate sat in the 80 per cent range for the fifth straight week, notching a final rate of 81.7 per cent out of 829 results. 

In the previous week, 786 auctions were held with an 80.5 per cent clearance rate. During the same period last year, 812 homes went under the hammer, with only 65.4 per cent of auctions ended in a sale. 

In smaller capital cities, Canberra trumped Adelaide last week, with a final clearance rate of 88.1 per cent. This is the first time Canberra claimed the top spot since the city went under lockdown in mid-August.

Meanwhile, Adelaide had a final clearance rate of 87.5 per cent, followed by Brisbane with 77.6 per cent and Perth with 54.5 per cent.