Auction clearance rates slipped for a fourth straight week as confusion about what US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats could mean for the economy added to prospective buyers’ wariness about interest rate cuts.

Preliminary auction clearance rates continued their slow melt, slipping to 68.7 per cent nationally, CoreLogic data showed. That figure is a slight drop from 69.1 per cent last week, which was later revised to 63 per cent.