Historic auction weekend ahead for Aussie capitals

There’s no stopping the spring selling season with 4,354 capital city homes due to go up for auction this week, following delays caused by the protracted lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra.

It is projected to surpass the week ending 25 March 2018, which had a record of 3,990 homes sold, as the busiest auction week ever.

The volume of auctions fell through July and August due to a mix of seasonal variables and COVID-19 lockdowns until reaching a recent low in early September at 1,423 homes.

Since then, the number of auctions staged has increased by about 10 per cent per week, totalling a more than 200 per cent increase.

This week’s auction volume is expected to be up 17 per cent from the previous week, when 3,720 homes went under the hammer, and more than double the 2,168 sold at this time last year.

Across the capital cities, Melbourne is leading the pack with 1,898 residences scheduled for auction this week. This is a 14.5 per cent increase over the previous week’s 1,657 homes sold and more than double the 909 homes that went under the hammer during the same period last year.

Sydney is expected to have its busiest week on record, with 1,656 homes scheduled for auction. Since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in the week ending 3 October, with just 753 homes sold, the volume of auctions in Sydney has increased by nearly 120 per cent. Last week, Sydney saw 1,352 auctions go ahead, whereas at the same time last year, just 886 properties were auctioned off.

Moving to the smaller capital cities, Adelaide and Canberra are likely to surpass last week’s auction volumes and set new records, with 308 and 183 auctions scheduled, respectively.

Not to be left behind is Perth, which is likely to have its busiest week of the year with 47 auctions booked.

Brisbane is staying on course with 260 auctions scheduled, a slight improvement from the 250 homes sold the week prior. This week, two homes in Tasmania are set to go up for auction.

Last week’s results

Last week’s auction numbers saw the period recognised as the second-busiest week of the year, with volumes above 3,000 for the fifth week in a row.

A total of 3,720 capital city properties were sold, a slight increase of 5.1 per cent from the prior week’s 3,539 on record.

The clearance rate fell to 70.3 per cent, down from 73.2 per cent the week prior, continuing a declining trend that began in early October.

Last week, 1,657 properties were sold in Melbourne, a 5.9 per cent increase over the previous week’s 1,564. Melbourne’s clearance rate has trended downward from the previous peak of 85.3 per cent in early October, with an average auction volume in excess of 1,400 over the past eight weeks.

The clearance rate appears to have stabilised in the high 60 per cent to low 70 per cent range for the last three weeks, with clearances of 68.6 per cent last week and 71.8 per cent the previous week. Last year at this time, 70 per cent of the 646 auctions held were successful.

Sydney’s auction volumes increased last week while its clearing rate decreased, continuing a trend that began when COVID limitations were eased in early October. Last week saw 1,352 auctions held around Sydney, surpassing the previous week as the busiest since late March. The NSW capital also saw its lowest clearance rate for the year at 68.7 per cent.

The prior week saw 1,259 residences put up for auction, with a 71.5 per cent clearance rate. Last year at this time, 71.6 per cent of the 805 auctions held were successful.

Across the smaller capital cities, Adelaide (80.3 per cent) was the only one to keep its clearance rate above 80 per cent last week, despite experiencing its highest-ever volume of 255. Canberra, too, had its greatest volume ever (180), but its clearance rate saw a decline to 78.3 per cent.

Brisbane’s clearance rate also grew 77 per cent while its volumes fell (250). Twelve of the 25 auctions held in Perth were successful, whereas only one auction held in Tasmania last week was successful.