Despite dismal weather in some capital cities, property buyers flocked to the auctions on the weekend. Last week was the second hottest seven-day period for real estate auctions so far this year, according to RP Data.
The preliminary auction clearance rate was 69.6% for the week, compared to 68.3% the previous week (see graph 1 below) as the number of properties that went under the hammer rose to 2,813 from 2,548.
Graph 1: weekly clearance rate, combined capital cities

Table 1: This Saturday, 16 November 2013
And the revised data for the week before shows a drop in the auction clearance rate in Sydney to 75.7% and Melbourne coming in at 71.6% (see table 2 below). But don’t be put off by the lower numbers. The number of properties actually being sold at auction is on the rise, with 535 in Sydney a week ago and 597 in Melbourne.
Table 2: Last Saturday, 9 November 2013
This time last year the auction clearance rates were still much lower, at 58.5% in Sydney and 61.9% in Melbourne, with 289 and 488 properties sold in those cities respectively (see table 3 below).
Table 3: Saturday,17 November 2012
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