Across the combined capital cities, the national clearance rate fell to 65.9% this week, markedly below the 70.1% clearance rate reported at the same time last year. The total number of properties put up for auction was slightly higher this week at 1,511 compared to 1,467 the previous week.
Weekly clearance rate, combined capital cities
According to RP Data, this week’s softer clearance rate was due to a weaker performance by the Melbourne market. The auction clearance rate for Melbourne was 63.9%, compared to 69% last week – the lowest result in nine weeks.
Capital city auction statistics (preliminary)
According to Australian Property Monitors (APM), this has broken Melbourne’s show of resilience during winter, as rates had been increasing over the past month.
Clearance rates were not low across the board however, and Sydney continued to outperform the rest, with a clearance rate of 75.5%. Although this result was below last weeks 76.7%, Sydney is displaying the most consistent auction results compared to the other capital cities.
Dr Andrew Wilson from Australian Property Monitors said that Sydney’s northwest was the best performer of all Sydney areas, followed by the inner west, the south, and the upper north shore. The most expensive property sold at auction was a three-bedroom home in Mosman, which sold for around $3.2 million.
Wilson said that low interest rates have maintained Sydney and Melbourne’s strong performance over recent weeks.
The most expensive house in Melbourne sold this week at auction was a four-bedroom home in South Yarra, which went under the hammer for $3.8 million.
Despite these high-flying sales at the weekend, home values are down across most of the capital cities, and RP Data reported a combined capital city median price of $521,731, compared to $526,927 last week. However, the total number of houses that went to auction this week was also lower at 6,465, compared to 6,843 last week.
Capital city private treaty median prices
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