Auction activity set for slide

Melbourne and Sydney account for more than 80 per cent of all capital city auctions expected this week, recording 1,263 and 1,170 auctions, respectively.

Despite leading the charge, Melbourne’s auction activity is set to fall 6 per cent from last week’s 1,345 auctions held. On the other hand, Sydney saw a slight increase from the 1,150 auctions in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the smaller capital cities can expect far lower numbers, with Adelaide at 158, Brisbane at 146, Canberra at 114, Perth at 25 and Tasmania at three.

Despite anticipating a lower level of activity, Ray White NSW chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said demand remains high, although there’s a slight sense of cautiousness among buyers that is creeping in.

“Auction continues to remain the best method of sale to achieve premium prices, we saw countless times buyers make pre-auction offers and properties selling for a higher amount under the hammer.”

“The property prices in the marketplace remain at record highs, and sellers within the market are urged to understand the conditions before making decisions,” he said.

Looking ahead, CoreLogic said auction activity is expected to remain relatively steady week-on-week across the combined capital cities.

Last week’s results

The week ending 16 May 2021 saw the third busiest auction week over the year, with 2,905 homes taken to auction – surpassing the week ending 2 May 2021 when 2,902 auctions were held.

However, it was lower than the 3,106 auctions held the previous week, which was considered the second busiest week in 2021.

Along with lower volumes, clearance rate also declined, with the final result declining 0.2 per cent week-on-week to 77 per cent.

Zooming in on the capital cities, Canberra retained the crown for the highest final clearance rate at 88.1 per cent out of 86 auctions, followed by Sydney at 78.9 per cent out of 1,150 auctions and Adelaide with 77.7 per cent out of 130 auctions.

Melbourne and Brisbane followed, with final success rates of 75.4 per cent and 72.9 per cent

Of the capital cities, Perth recorded the lowest final clearance rate at 65.2 per cent, though this was significantly higher than last week’s 44.7 per cent.