The auction clearance rate in Sydney has plunged to its lowest this year as buyers put their plans on hold and wait for prices to fall further, making the country’s most expensive property market the biggest drag on under-the-hammer sales.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate fell to 58.2 per cent at the weekend, down nearly 8 percentage points from a week earlier and well below a balanced market’s rate of about 65 per cent, CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said.