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Despite auction volumes surging to the highest point in nearly a month, the preliminary clearance rate trended downwards in the week ending 18 May 2025.
The latest Property Market Indicator Summary from Cotality showed that nationwide, 1,835 properties were auctioned off in the week ending 18 May 2025, marking the highest volume since the 3,066 auctions held in the week prior to Easter this year.
Despite the increased activity, the combined capital city preliminary clearance rate did not manage to keep pace and came in at 68.8 per cent last week, marking the first time in three weeks that the combined early rate slipped below the 70 per cent mark.
Nevertheless, Cotality said that last week’s early clearance rate still remains slightly above the year-to-date average of 68 per cent.
Melbourne came in as the busiest auction market for the week ending 18 May 2025, with the 935 homes that went under the hammer representing an increase from the 799 auctions that were held during the week ending 11 May 2025.
Notably, Melbourne was the only capital to record a preliminary clearance rate above the 70 per cent mark last week, with the city’s early rate of 73.8 per cent also marking the city’s second highest early rate of the year so far.
Sydney hosted 558 auctions last week, which was a sizeable decrease from the 656 homes that went under the hammer during the prior week.
Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate also dipped lower to 65.3 per cent last week which, aside from the more volatile results from January of this year, marked the city’s lowest early rate since the 63 per cent recorded in the week ending 15 December 2024.
Brisbane’s 134 homes that went to auction marked the highest activity across the less populous cities last week, the city’s highest auction volume since the 135 properties that were auctioned off during the week before Easter this year.
Nevertheless, Brisbane registered a preliminary clearance rate of 59.6 per cent per cent, down from the previous week’s early rate of 69.7 per cent.
Adelaide hosted 132 auctions last week and returned a preliminary clearance rate of 64.1 per cent, which was down from the previous week’s 66.7 per cent, and tracked lower than the city’s year-to-date average of 67.4 per cent.
Of the 68 homes taken to auction across the ACT, 56.6 per cent have returned a positive result so far, which was the city’s lowest preliminary clearance rate in three weeks.
While six homes were taken to auction in Perth, the outcome of four had been revealed, in which three houses were successfully sold.
In Tasmania, the one auction result that has been reported so far was unsuccessful.
Cotality said that it seems many vendors are holding out for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision tomorrow (20 May 2025), which will substantially affect market sentiment and auction activity.
With the cash rate widely forecast to reduce tomorrow, Cotality noted that the volume of scheduled auctions across the combined capitals is set to rise to around 2,360 in the week ending 25 March 2025, before rising to around 2,700 auctions the following week.
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