Auction activity across Australia’s combined capitals is set to decline significantly this week, falling by 31.6% week-on-week, largely due to the AFL Grand Final celebrations in Melbourne and Adelaide, CoreLogic reported.
A total of 1,903 homes are scheduled for auction, down from 2,781 last week but an improvement from the 1,198 auctions held during the same period last year.
Melbourne is expecting only 243 auctions, making it the quietest auction week since late January. This is an 81.8% drop from the 1,335 auctions held last week but still 19.7% higher than the same time last year.
The AFL Grand Final is a significant factor in this slowdown.
Sydney set for its busiest week since 2022
In contrast, Sydney is gearing up for its busiest auction week since April 2022, with 1,270 homes expected to go under the hammer. This is a significant increase from the 1,009 auctions held last week and nearly double the 714 auctions from this time last year.
Auction trends in smaller capitals are mixed, with Adelaide expecting a 37% drop in activity, while Brisbane and Canberra are seeing increased numbers, up by 5.9% and 36.8%, respectively.
Brisbane is set to host 144 auctions, making it the busiest of the smaller capitals this week.
“With the Labour Day/Kings' birthday long weekends in NSW, ACT, QLD and SA, auction activity is set to remain low next week before rising the week after,” said Kaytlin Ezzy (pictured above), economist, CoreLogic Australia.
Last week, the combined capitals saw their busiest auction week since before Easter, with 2,781 auctions conducted. However, the final clearance rate dropped to 60.7%, the lowest so far this year, and 5.4 percentage points lower than the same time last year.
Melbourne hosted 1,335 auctions last week, marking its busiest week of the year. However, the city’s clearance rate dipped to 59.5%, falling below 60% for the first time in eight weeks.
Sydney saw 1,009 homes auctioned last week, marking a 15.7% increase from the week prior. However, the final clearance rate continued to ease, falling to 61.6%, down from 63.2% the previous week and significantly lower than the 70.0% recorded this time last year.
Among the smaller capitals, Adelaide led with the highest clearance rate of 76%, followed by Brisbane, Perth, and Canberra. Canberra saw the lowest success rate of 44.7%, while Tasmania's single auction was unsuccessful, CoreLogic reported.
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