Auction clearances firming

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ScreenHunter_19 Mar. 13 13.12

The national auction clearance rate rose again over the weekend on the back of rises in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

According to RP Data, the national weighted average preliminary auction clearance rate was 74.4% over the weekend, which was up 2.2% from the 72.2% preliminary clearance rate reported last weekend. Sydney’s clearance rate rose by 1.3% to 82.4%, whereas Melbourne’s rose to 75.1% (last weekend 71.0%). Brisbane, which typically only has a small number of auctions, experienced a increase in its clearance rate to 49.4% from 47.0% the weekend before. However, overall auction volumes (1,910) were down on last weekend’s 2,004.

ScreenHunter_4050 Sep. 07 18.56
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The trend in the national clearance rate is rising, 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_4051 Sep. 07 18.56

As usual, the other data providers reported stronger results but on smaller samples.

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The Real Estate Institute of Victoria reported a preliminary clearance rate of 77% on 683 reported auctions, which compares to the 76% preliminary clearance rate on 717 reported auctions last weekend.

For Sydney, APM reported a preliminary clearance rate of 83% on 404 reported auctions, which compares to the 82% preliminary clearance rate on 449 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.