The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) yesterday released its preliminary auction results for the weekend just gone, which registered the strongest result in over two years.
The preliminary clearance rate of 73% recorded on 903 auctions reported to the REIV. This compares to last week’s final clearance rate of 70% from 476 auctions. This week’s result was also much stronger than the 57% clearance rate on 821 auctions recorded in the same weekend of last year and the 63% clearance rate on 749 auctions recorded on the same weekend in 2011.
With only 35 auctions listed as “no result” by the REIV, the reported strong clearance rate is likely to stick once the final results are published on Wednesday evening.
Last week, the REIV provided the below chart showing the strong correlation of auction clearance rates with the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index:
Certainly, the pick-up in auction clearance rates since the beginning of the year seems to be in-line with the strong improvement in the Consumer Sentiment Index since mid-2012 and points to continued solid auction results in the months ahead.
Next weekend, the REIV expects around 970 auctions to be held in Victoria before taking a breather over the Labour Day long weekend.
