The first week of summer looks like being a scorcher for the auction market, with CoreLogic expecting over 3000 auctions to be held across Australia’s combined capital cities, 16.6% up on this time last year.

According to CoreLogic data, Melbourne will be Australia’s busiest market this week, with 1,389 homes scheduled to go under the auctioneer’s hammer, up 6.1% on the previous week.

Here’s how CoreLogic expects auctions to play out across other key markets:

Sydney is set to inch 0.6% higher this week with 1,149 homes currently scheduled for auction.

This week’s expected numbers are 58.7% higher than the weekly average witnessed over the year so far (724) and 29.0% higher than the 891 homes auctioned this time last year.

  • Adelaide is set to experience its busiest auction week, with 190 homes currently scheduled for auction, up 21.8% week-on-week.
  • Brisbane’s weekly auction numbers are expected to fall -11.1% to 177.
  • Canberra to host 118 auctions, down -3.3%.
  • Perth can expect 16 homes to go under the hammer.
  • Tasmania can expect just two auctions this week.

Shades of what’s in store

While auctions will ease off over the festive season, Kaytlin Ezzy, Economist, CoreLogic Australia says the coming weeks are an important touchstone for how market conditions could play out in early 2024.

Based on recent auction numbers, Ezzy expects auction activity to remain strong between now and the festive season.

While last week’s auction numbers remain elevated, Ezzy has witnessed an easing in buyer demand, with the combined capitals recording the lowest final clearance rate of the year.

With just 60.8% of auctions reporting a successful result, last week’s clearance rate was down -1.6 percentage points compared to the week prior (62.4%) but remained 4.4 percentage points higher than this time last year (56.4%).

While auction activity across Melbourne trended lower last week, with 1,309 homes auctioned, down -7.2% from the previous week, Sydney hosted its busiest auction week of the year last week (1,142), Up 7.4% on the previous week (1,063).

Here’s how the other states faired:

  • Brisbane’s (199) auction activity was down -1.0% on the week prior – clearance rate rose 3.5 percentage points higher to 59.3%.
  • Adelaide (156), down -16.6% week-on-week – clearance rate 75.5%.
  • Canberra (122), up 11.9% – clearance rate fell below 50% with just 46.7% recording a positive result.
  • Perth experienced only 18 auctions – clearance rate 77.8%.
  • All three auctions held in Tasmania last week were passed in.