Auction clearances record broad-based falls

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ScreenHunter_19 Mar. 13 13.12

By Leith van Onselen

The national auction clearance rate dipped over the weekend, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all recording falls.

According to RP Data, the national weighted average preliminary auction clearance rate was 68.7% over the weekend, which was down slightly from 69.4% reported last weekend. Sydney’s clearance rate fell by 0.2% to 76.4%, whereas Melbourne’s fell to 67.0% (last weekend 68.4%). Brisbane, which typically only has a small number of auctions, experienced a sharp restracement in its clearance rate to 47.0% from 59.3% the weekend before. However, overall auction volumes (1,421) were up marginally on last weekend’s 1,383.

ScreenHunter_3282 Jul. 13 17.07
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The trend in the national clearance rate is rising once again after the sharp recent retracement, and remains well above the levels recorded during the 2011 and 2012 housing bear market and slightly above the same time last year (see next chart).

ScreenHunter_3283 Jul. 13 17.07

The other data providers produced much better results but on significantly smaller samples.

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The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) reported a preliminary clearance rate of 74% on 388 reported auctions, which compares to the 74% preliminary clearance rate on 360 reported auctions last weekend.

For Sydney, APM reported a preliminary clearance rate of 78% on 285 reported auctions, which compares to the 73% preliminary clearance rate on 311 reported auctions recorded last weekend.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.