The national auction clearance rate continued to strengthen over the weekend, again driven by Sydney and Brisbane.
According to RP Data, the national weighted average preliminary auction clearance rate was 69.4% over the weekend, which was up from 68.1% last weekend. Sydney’s clearance rate rose by 1.4% to 76.6%, whereas Melbourne’s fell slightly to 68.4% (last weekend 69.3%). Brisbane, which typically only has a small number of auctions, experienced another strong rise in its clearance rate to 59.3% from 43.9% the weekend before. However, overall auction volumes (1,383) were down significantly on last weekend’s 1,970.
The trend in the national clearance rate continues to consolidate from the very strong levels recorded in the second half of last year and the first quarter of 2014; although it remains well above the levels recorded during the 2011 and 2012 housing bear market and remains slightly above the same time last year:
The other data providers produced different results on smaller samples.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) reported a preliminary clearance rate of 74% on 360 reported auctions, which compares to the 75% preliminary clearance rate on 640 reported auctions last weekend.
For Sydney, APM reported a preliminary clearance rate of 73% on 311 reported auctions, which compares to the 74% preliminary clearance rate on 435 reported auctions recorded last weekend.
