Capital city clearance rates near 80%

This follows on from a final clearance rate of 73 per cent recorded in the previous week – the highest final clearance rate in over two years.

When comparing the week ending 25 August to the same week last year, auction clearance rates are up 25 percentage points from 54.6 per cent.

According to CoreLogic, clearance rates were highest in Sydney (84.7 per cent), followed by Melbourne (79.7), Adelaide (72.4 per cent), Canberra (68.9 per cent), Brisbane (67.7 per cent) and Perth (62.5 per cent).

The bounce in auction clearance rates came amid mounting evidence of a recent uptick in demand for housing.  

Speaking to the media following the release of broking group Mortgage Choice’s full-year results for the 2019 financial year, CEO Susan Mitchell said the group experienced a sharp increase in demand for home loans in response to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) back-to-back cuts to the cash rate and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) new lending guidance.  

When asked if demand was more pronounced in particular segments of the market, Ms Mitchell said that it had come from “across the board”, adding that lenders had reported similar trends.

“We have seen our loan applications rise significantly since June 30. I think everyone has seen that,” she said.

“The feedback I’ve gotten from the banks is that they are as busy as they’ve ever been.” 

Despite the bump in clearance rates, auction volumes were down relative to the same period last year, from 1,915 to 1,412.

In the week ending 25 August, Melbourne was host to the largest number of auctions (665), followed by Sydney (500), Brisbane (94), Canberra (75), Adelaide (56) and Perth (20).

[Related: Home buying ‘harder than ever’, say FHBs]