Preliminary data from Cotality shows that Sydney’s residential auction clearance rate fell to 68.2% in the week to Saturday, which was the lowest since the week ending 8 June and was the first time the preliminary clearance rate has been below the 70% mark in 21 weeks. A total of 959 auctions were held in Sydney across the week, down from 1,079 a week ago.
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate fell to a three-week low of 71.8%, with 1,835 auctions, the highest since December 2021. This was the highest volume of auctions since December 2021 at the height of the pandemic housing boom. Even so, Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate of 71.8% was still well above the decade average of 68.7%.
The national preliminary clearance rate fell to 70.5%, the lowest since mid-June. This followed the highest number of auctions held since late March, with 3,253 homes going under the hammer.
Source: Cotality
The decline in the nation’s auction clearances has been evident since late September, and is also reflected in the final auction clearance rate:
The data suggests that while the market remains strong, it is being weighed down somewhat by the flood of auction listings.
That said, overall for-sale listings declined by 15.1% over the past across the combined capital cities, according to Cotality:
Source: Cotality
This suggests that overall supply remains tight.
Indeed, dwelling values continue to march higher, with prices at the 5-city aggregate level rising by 0.91% over the past 28 days, the strongest growth since October 2023:
The combination of Labor’s 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers and expected further interest rate cuts is expected to drive home values to fresh highs in the period ahead.
