Melbourne auctions stall as Sydney market rebounds, CoreLogic figures show

Melbourne’s number of successful auctions dipped to 50 per cent last week as volatility and lockdowns shake confidence, while Sydney forges ahead, according to CoreLogic.

Sydney’s auction market is rebounding. Picture: David Swift

Just one in two properties taken to auction in Melbourne last week sold under the hammer as the city’s property market continues to see low volumes given tough lockdown restrictions.

Melbourne recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 50.3 per cent from 223 properties as the city approached the end of week three of lockdown, according to property researcher CoreLogic.

Nervousness from sellers and the inability for buyers to inspect properties in-person saw numbers fall far lower than the same time last year (77 per cent clearance from 662 homes).

Meanwhile, Sydney continued to produce strong numbers, with early figures showing a clearance rate of 71.9 per cent of the 632 properties taken to market sold. Volumes were lightly up on the same week last year, when 503 properties achieved a clearance rate of 78.1 per cent.

The national preliminary clearance rate for last week hit 64.7 per cent from 1,082 properties.

CoreLogic said the last few weeks have seen both the clearance rate and number of homes taken to auction remain relatively steady each week.

“The performance across the two largest capital cities has been quite diverse as Melbourne continues to navigate through lockdown restrictions resulting in lower levels of activity and higher withdrawal rates, while Sydney has seen volumes trending higher over the past few months and consistently higher year-on-year,” the property researcher said.

In the smaller markets, Canberra continued its auction success streak with an 87.8 per cent preliminary clearance rate from 64 properties. Adelaide followed with a preliminary rate of 57.9 per cent from 61 properties, trailed by Brisbane (48.1 per cent from 80) and Perth (16.7 per cent from 22).

On Friday, data firm SQM Research reported only 52 of the auctions planned for the weekend were meant to go ahead in Melbourne, with more than 100 sold prior, converted to a normal private treaty campaign or pulled from the market. Similar double digit levels were last seen in Melbourne May 16, towards the end of the first lockdowns, if long weekends figures are excluded because of volatility.

Figures are likely to be revised down throughout the week as more suction results are recorded. As of Sunday morning, CoreLogic had collected the outcome of 829 sales of 1,080 scheduled for last week.