The weekend’s auction markets continued their recent strong run of form, with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.4% recorded across the nation, down slightly from last weekend’s 86.1%.
As usual, this strong result was driven by the two major markets – Melbourne and Sydney – where auctions are most prevalent.
Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 88.2% – up from 87.5% last weekend. Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate was 82.2%, down from 87.8% last weekend:
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However, auction volumes (2,094) were about 20% below the same weekend last year (2,517), reflecting in part the dearth of stock.
As shown below, the national clearance rate is tracking around 6-year highs, reflecting the heat in the market:
Domain’s preliminary clearance rates were similar:
Sydney: 86%
Melbourne: 79%
According to Shane Oliver via Twitter:
“Clearances are very strong. Sales are flat/down a bit on yr ago but they lag clearances. Record low mortgage rates, gov incentives, “escape from the city”, econ recovery & FOMO are the key drivers”.
Sydney’s auction market, in particular, is white hot.
Based on historical correlations, this points to strong house price growth.
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.
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