Modest rise in auction clearance rates following Easter

DESPITE a modest rise after the Easter long weekend, there was still a level of caution after the release of auction clearance rate numbers this week.

Property data analyst Cotality said the preliminary auction clearance rose to 58.9 per cent last week, one percentage point higher than the week prior (57.9 per cent, revised down to 52.7 per cent once finalised) and 3.5 percentage points higher than the Easter low (55.5 per cent).

However, this was the third week running where the preliminary clearance rate has held below the 60 per cent mark, well down on the March quarter average of 68.1 per cent.

Cotality said auction clearance rates are being negatively impacted by a high portion of withdrawn auctions, which count as an unsuccessful outcome in the results.

Last week, the preliminary numbers showed 19.1 per cent of auctions were withdrawn from sale across the combined capitals, highest being in Sydney, where 26.7 per cent of auction results reported so far were withdrawn from the market.

The number of auctions held also rose, jumping by more than a third (34.3 per cent) from the week prior, with 2520 auctions held.

“Comparing figures from a year ago isn’t all that helpful given the timing of Easter in 2025 (644 auctions held in the same week last year) but, prior to Easter, the volume of auctions has been holding well above 2025 levels,” Cotality said.

Melbourne led the auction market from a volume perspective, with 1202 homes going under the hammer, up 37.4 per cent from the week prior.

The preliminary figures show 59.7 per cent of auctions have reported a successful result so far, up from 57.8 per cent the week prior (revised down to 52.3 per cent on final numbers). This was the third week running where Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate has held below 60 per cent.

Some 924 auctions were taken to market in Sydney, a 35.1 per cent increase on the week prior. And 56.5 per cent of auctions have reported a successful result, based on the figures collected to date, up from 54.4 per cent the previous week, which revised down to 48.8 per cent, the lowest finalised clearance rate for Sydney since April 2020.

There were 199 auctions were held in Brisbane, a 70.1 per cent jump in volume relative to the week prior.

The preliminary clearance rate dropped to 57.2 per cent, down from 60.9 per cent the previous week, to be the second lowest preliminary clearance rate so far this year (after the Easter long weekend).

Adelaide saw 118 homes taken to auction, 5.6 per cent fewer than the week prior.

The preliminary clearance rate came in at 73.9 per cent, up from 70.8 per cent and the second week in a row where the early clearance rate has been higher than 70 per cent.

Canberra hosted 66 auctions, with half (50 per cent) reporting a successful result so far. Only 11 auctions were held in Perth and no auctions in Tasmania.

With Anzac Day on Saturday and several states holding a long weekend, auction numbers are set to drop.

Cotality is currently tracking around 770 auctions scheduled to go under the hammer this week, bouncing back to approximately 2660 the week after.