Homeowners rush to auction as clearance rates drop

Australian homeowners are rushing to take advantage of soaring property prices with the housing market experiencing its second busiest auctions week since 2008.

The total number of auctions held across the country last week was almost double the same time last year. Picture: Carly Earl

Australian homeowners are rushing to take advantage of soaring property prices, with the housing market experiencing its second busiest auctions week since 2008.

However, clearance rates have again dropped – continuing a trend that began in October – with a preliminary clearance rate of 69.9 per cent out of 4136 auctions, according to research house CoreLogic.

The previous week saw a higher preliminary clearance rate of 71.4 per cent, revised down to 67.2 per cent at final figures, the lowest final clearance rate of the year. The total of auctions held across the country in the past week was almost double the same time last year.

CoreLogic’s research executive Tim Lawless suggested this week could be an even bigger week for auctions.

“Clearly demand isn’t keeping pace with the number of auctions being held, which is one of the key reasons why we’re seeing the clearance rate drifting a little bit lower,” Mr Lawless said.

He said weaker clearance rates could be attributed to a mixture of higher volumes, less demand in the marketplace and a slowdown in conditions more generally.

Last week was the second busiest auction week for Sydney so far this year, with 1467 homes taken to auction across the city, down from 1546 over the previous week.

Melbourne had its third busiest week for auctions this year with 1889 homes on the market.

Sydney cleared at 67.3 per cent and Melbourne slightly higher at 69.4 per cent, with Mr Lawless saying their rates were correcting back to average levels.

“We’re seeing clearance rates, particularly in Sydney around late September and October, regularly up around the 80 per cent mark, and they’ve been consistently drifting lower as we’ve seen volumes of auctions moving higher, but also as the markets generally slowed down,” Mr Lawless said.

Adelaide had the highest clearance rate at 76.4 per cent, with Brisbane following at 74.6 per cent, out of 298 and 273 auctions respectively. Canberra recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate in the country at 82.1 per cent, with 179 auctions. Perth recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 43.5 per cent on 25 auctions.