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What’s the best day to hold an auction?

By Bianca Dabu
23 July 2021 | 11 minute read
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Saturday might be the most popular day for property auctions, but it isn’t necessarily the most successful, new data has shown.

Ray White Group has crunched the data on its national auction day clearance rates over the 12 months to 13 July 2021 to reveal Fridays as the most successful auction days.

More specifically, it’s 1pm on a Friday — reporting a clearance rate of 91.2 per cent.

Saturdays at 8am came in second, with a slightly lower clearance rate of 90.5 per cent.

“Most auctions in Australia are held on Saturdays between 10am and 1pm, but new data from Ray White shows that looking at a midweek auction could create more competition,” the network’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee, has said.

“Holding an auction at a time that is less standard can work to your advantage if selling — there is simply less competition from other properties going to auction at these times.”

Fridays at 7pm posted a surprisingly strong clearance rate of 87.2 per cent, followed by Saturdays at 6pm with 84.4 per cent.

A clearance rate of 81.8 per cent was clocked at auctions held on Saturdays at 5pm, Thursdays at 12pm and Wednesdays at 4pm.

There’s a number of other days and times that also offered strong results: Sundays at 4pm got an 80 per cent success rate, while Tuesdays at 4pm and Thursdays at 5pm got 78.6 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively.

In terms of auction interest, Tuesdays at 5pm attracted 5.9 average active buyers, followed by Thursdays at 1pm and Fridays at 7pm with 4.6, Fridays at 1pm with 4.5, and Sundays at 4pm with 4.4.

Weighing in, Ray White Lara principal Jo Boothroyd flagged Tuesday as a popular choice for her business: “Tuesday evening has been working really well for us… because people have usually been through the house on the weekend and it’s still fresh in their mind. It also puts our properties ahead of some other homes that may be going to auction later in the week.”

She highlighted Tuesday as convenient for most people, “as they usually don’t have other commitments”.

“Once you get later in the week, other things start to get in the way and attendance can begin to slip,” she added.

Capital cities

It’s also worth noting that the best time to hold an auction varied significantly across cities and states, according to Ray White.

Sydney’s most active auction day was Sunday at 11am, with an average of 4.3 active buyers, while Melbourne’s most active auction day was Friday at 7pm, with an average of 4 active bidders.

In Brisbane, the auction market was most active on Monday at 6pm, with an average of 4.9 active bidders, while Adelaide’s busiest auction day was Friday at 7pm, with an average of 4.9 active bidders as well.

Perth is the only market where the standard midday Saturday auction yielded the highest average active bidders at 2.5.

What’s the best day to hold an auction?
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