After some heady weeks of real estate activity, auctions slowed down a little on the weekend. But that didn’t stop a property in both Sydney and Melbourne going under the hammer for $6 million or more.
The volume of auctions, as measured by RP Data, fell slightly to 2,686 across the country, from 2,814 the previous week. The combined capital cities auction clearance rate fell to 66.9% from 67.4% (see graph 1 below).
Graph 1: Weekly clearance rate, combined capital cities
Sydney had a preliminary auction clearance rate of 80.1% on the weekend, according to APM, and Melbourne a rate of 70.3% (see table 1 below). The total number of properties sold at auction in Sydney was 407, as Melbourne sold 475.
Table 1: This Saturday, 23 November 2013
The revised data for the previous week reveals Sydney’s auction clearance rate at just under 80% and Melbourne’s hovering around 74% (see table 2 below). It also reveals a massive number of auctions listed in Melbourne – over 1,087, and half a billion worth of properties sold in Sydney.
Table 2: Saturday, 16 November 2013
This time a year ago, not only were the auction clearance rates in both Sydney and Melbourne much lower, but the total value of properties sold in both Sydney and Melbourne were just over half of what they are today (see table 3 below).
Table 3: Saturday, 24 November 2012
The luxury end of the property market is also starting to move. The most expensive property auctioned in Sydney on the weekend was a five-bedroom house in Mosman that went for $6.45 million. In Melbourne, a six-bedroom house in Box Hill went for $6 million.
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