Auction distracted by Cup Day weekend

CAPITAL city auction activity took a tumble over the week with Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival pulling focus, with the preliminary clearance rate reaching its lowest level since December 2022.

According to CoreLogic’s preliminary figures for the week ending 3 November 2024, the clearance rate was 63.4% down from last week’s 66.8%—revised down to 59.5% on final numbers, with the finalised rate holding below 60% for three of the last four weeks.

In total there were 1,983 auctions held over the last week, down from the previous week’s 3,076, with activity stalled by Cup Day weekend.

In Sydney the preliminary rate was down from 70.5% to 64.5%, for the second lowest rate so far this year.

Sydney held the most auctions this week at 1,046, up from 987 in the week before, for the city’s third busiest week this year, with 487 auctions cleared.

In Melbourne the preliminary rate was down from 68.5% to 62.4%, for the second lowest rate in the year-to-date.

Melbourne held just 473 auctions this week, after four consecutive weeks above 1,000 auctions. With 236 auctions cleared.

Adelaide again saw the highest clearance rate across the capitals at 67.1%, with 173 auctions taking place and 55 cleared.

While Brisbane again held the most auctions of the smaller capitals, with 182 homes going under the hammer, with 67 cleared for a preliminary clearance rate of 52.3%.

94 auctions were held in Canberra over the week, with 32 cleared for a clearance rate of 55.2%.

While Perth recorded 15 auctions over the week and Tasmania held none.

“The number of auctions is set to bounce back over the next two weeks, with around 2,900 homes scheduled for auction this week,” said Caitlin Fono, research analyst at CoreLogic Australia.