Auction volumes have hit their highest levels for the year, the latest figures from CoreLogic say, with 2,280 dwellings taken to auction over the past week. This was dramatically higher than the 1,591 dwellings taken to auction in the week prior.
The combined capital city clearance rate remained high with 77% of all auctioned property sold.
There remains, however, a definite difference between the markets of Sydney and Melbourne and the rest of the country, said CoreLogic head of research Cameron Kusher.
“The larger number of auctions was driven by a substantial rise across the Sydney and Melbourne markets, while the number of auctions held actually saw a decrease across the smaller capital cities over the week.”
Melbourne was the most popular capital for property with a clearance rate of 76.7% for the 1,103 auctions held. Sydney came in second best with a clearance rate of 83.5% for 844 auctions.
“The preliminary combined capital city clearance rate was higher this week than what was seen over the same period last year, however, the number of auctions held was lower, with 2,347 auctions held over the same week last year, returning a 71.8% clearance rate,” Kusher said.
According to Domain.com.au, the weekend clearance rate for Sydney was 83.1% with 675 homes listed for auction on Saturday. In total, $460.9m worth of property was sold in Sydney over the weekend while the median auction price stood at $1,227,500.
“Next weekend the local market faces an extraordinary challenge with nearly 950 homes likely to go under the hammer,” said Domain chief economist Andrew Wilson.
“This will be the highest February day for Sydney auctions on record and will provide buyers with an unprecedented and tantalising early-season super Saturday choice of homes.”
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