The national auction clearance rate rose over the weekend, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all recording increases.
According to RP Data, the national weighted average preliminary auction clearance rate was 70.7% over the weekend, which was up 2.0% from the 68.7% preliminary clearance rate reported last weekend. Sydney’s clearance rate rose by 0.5% to 76.9%, whereas Melbourne’s rose to 69.6% (last weekend 67.0%). Brisbane, which typically only has a small number of auctions, experienced a sharp rise in its clearance rate to 54.1% from 47.0% the weekend before. Overall auction volumes (1,485) were also up marginally on last weekend’s 1,421.
The trend in the national clearance rate continues to rebound 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).
The other data providers produced better results but on significantly smaller samples.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) reported a preliminary clearance rate of 74% on 477 reported auctions, which compares to the 74% preliminary clearance rate on 388 reported auctions last weekend.
For Sydney, APM reported a preliminary clearance rate of 77% on 299 reported auctions, which compares to the 78% preliminary clearance rate on 285 reported auctions recorded last weekend.
