In the second long weekend in a row, auction numbers were predictively lower with only 859 properties going to auction in capital cities. That was down on the 1,658 auctions on the same weekend last year, when ANZAC Day fell on a Thursday, rather than a Friday.
Weekly clearance rate, combined capital cities
The clearance rate across the capital cities was 64%, compared to 65.5% the previous week. In Sydney, the clearance rate was just 72% and in Melbourne it was 63.6%. These are still robust numbers but, when compared to the high 80% rates for Sydney and mid 70% rates for Melbourne earlier this year, are prompting calls of a cooling in the housing market. The next few weeks will show if these falls are a blip, or a trend.
Capital city auction statistics (preliminary)
Further adding fuel to the talk of a cooling was the drop in capital city home values over the week in Sydney, down by 0.3%, and Melbourne, down by 0.6%. Those drops were behind a 0.2% drop in the average home value for the combined five capitals.
Capital city home value changes
However, the median price of properties sold at private auctions has risen over the past two weeks. Up from $579,842 for houses to $585,099 and from $486,599 for units to $488,462.
Capital city private treaty median prices
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