Clearance rates, auctions show weekly dip

The preliminary results, which account for the auction data from the week ended 13 March, noted that there were 2,090 homes taken to auction across Australia’s capitals, falling by almost 30 per cent from the previous week’s figure of 2,979.

This drop was seen the strongest in Melbourne, which saw 606 auctions during the week ended 13 March, marking a week-on-week drop of over 57 per cent. 

CoreLogic has stated this figure is likely to be attributed to the state’s Labour Day long weekend.

Comparatively, each other capital city reported marginal loss or gains in the number of auctions compared to last week, with Canberra reporting the second-biggest change in auctions, dropping from the previous week’s 140 to 88. 

However, Canberra also reported the highest preliminary clearance rate at 87.5 per cent, followed by Adelaide (77.9 per cent) and Melbourne (71.9 per cent). 

The weighted average of capital city clearance rates for this latest week was 72.5 per cent, dropping by 20 basis points from last week, and falling from the 80 per cent reported this week last year. 

Drop in total listings, rise in new

This latest CoreLogic release also noted that the total number of listings has fallen year-on-year by 3.9 per cent, while new listings curiously increased by 5.9 per cent. 

The drop in total listings appears to be linked to huge crashes in Adelaide (-22.1 per cent), Brisbane (-26 per cent) alongside minor falls in Perth (-8 per cent) and Hobart (-4.5 per cent). 

However, this divide with new listings looks to be the result of significant swings upwards for Darwin (76 per cent) and Canberra (30.6 per cent), coupled with minor growth in Sydney (5.7 per cent), Melbourne (14.9 per cent) and Hobart (13.6 per cent). 

[Related: More Australians now considering property investment: CBA]