The national auction clearance rate rose over the weekend on the back of increases in Sydney and Melbourne.
According to RP Data, the national weighted average preliminary auction clearance rate was 69.7% over the weekend, which was up 2.4% from the 67.3% preliminary clearance rate reported last weekend. Sydney’s clearance rate rose by 1.7% to 77.6%, whereas Melbourne’s fell to 70.9% (last weekend 66.1%). Brisbane, which typically only has a small number of auctions, experienced a sharp fall in its clearance rate to 32.3% from 44.2% the weekend before. However, overall auction volumes (1,467) were up on last weekend’s 1,680.
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).
As usual, the other data providers reported stronger results but on significantly smaller samples.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria reported a preliminary clearance rate of 74% on 456 reported auctions, which compares to the 73% preliminary clearance rate on 592 reported auctions last weekend.
For Sydney, APM reported a preliminary clearance rate of 79% on 310 reported auctions, which compares to the 77% preliminary clearance rate on 368 reported auctions recorded last weekend.
