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It’s now only seven days until Christmas, and auction activity remained elevated for the last big week of action of the year.
A total of 2,918 homes were auctioned over the capital cities across the week ending 17 December.
CoreLogic revealed the numbers, while a -4.1 per cent drop on the week prior, “were still relatively high”, according to economist Kaytlin Ezzy.
Comparing auction activity for the same period in 2022, this year there are 25 per cent more homes that have gone under the hammer, which Ms Ezzy said is “a clear demonstration that vendors have been much more active this spring”.
Even so, buyers have not been so enthusiastic to bite.
The combined capital preliminary clearance rate has slipped a further 10 basis points to 66.8 per cent, and is likely to slip even further, given the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 66.9 per cent fell to just 57.6 per cent at final count.
Therefore, CoreLogic pointed out it is likely that last week’s final results “will similarly come in well below the average final clearance rate recorded throughout winter and spring” – of 65.8 per cent.
In Sydney, auction numbers fell below the 1,000 mark for the first time in eight weeks, with 958 homes taken under the hammer. While a -10.6 per cent drop on the previous week, numbers were still 21.6 per cent higher this week than they were at the same point in time in 2022.
The harbourside city recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 65.5 per cent – the city’s lowest for the year.
Down in Melbourne, 1,401 homes were up for grabs, a drop from the 1,415 auctions that took place the week earlier – but also up from the 1,045 homes that went under the hammer over the same period in 2022.
The city reported a 66.9 per cent success rate, which is the highest preliminary clearance rate for the city seen in four weeks.
Ms Ezzy noted that despite Melbourne’s steadily rising preliminary clearance rates over the past three weeks, the city’s rate remains “well below the average level recorded through spring (68.1 per cent) but above the final rate recorded this time last year (53.4 per cent)”.
Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide’s 199 homes that went under the hammer saw an 81.7 per cent success rate, while 65.9 per cent of Canberra’s 143 properties up for auction found buyers.
In Brisbane, a total 186 auctions found buyers in 56.3 per cent of cases – a drop in the success rate of -11.4 per cent.
In Perth, seven of the nine homes up for auction found success, while three out of the four Tasmanian auctions also found buyers.
Recapping the recent results, Ms Ezzy outlined that “the end of the spring and early summer selling auction season has seen buyers benefit from more choice, less urgency and greater leverage at the negotiation table amid higher advertised supply levels”.
She also went on to note that while auction numbers will remain subdued through December and early January, “the trend through the final month of the year, characterised by increasingly diverse conditions from city to city, helps set the scene for 2024”.
CoreLogic is set to resume its auction reporting in late January or early February, dependent on auction activity.
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