Auction volumes have been put under pressure by COVID-19, with around half of those scheduled coming back as withdrawn at peak impact; however, not only have volumes begun to increase across the combined capital cities, but the clearance rate is creeping up as well.
This week, there were 1,262 homes scheduled for auction which returned a preliminary clearance rate of 66.1% as compared to the 1,181 auctions and 59.3% clearance rate the week before.
Notably, both Melbourne and Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate came in above the mid-60% mark this week.
Melbourne had 564 homes scheduled for auction, up from 471 the week before. The city returned a preliminary success rate of 65.8%, up from the 61% preliminary clearance the week previously which was revised down to 56.3% at final result.
While auction activity is regaining momentum, the city is down with both its success rate and volumes year on year. This week in 2019, there were 635 auctions which returned a 68.9% result.
In Sydney, 68.5% of homes sold at auction this week, up from the 67.3% preliminary figure last week.
However, the improved clearance rate was across a lower volume of auctions, down slightly to 526 from the 545 the week before.
Year on year, Sydney saw 558 homes taken to auction, returning a final clearance rate of 60.9%.
Canberra had the highest clearance rate of the smaller auction markets this week, which is a trend that has held steady over the past month.
The preliminary clearance rate in Canberra was above 70%; for comparison, only 20% of Perth auctions recorded a successful result in the same period.
