Auction clearance rates across Australia trended higher last week after the number of homes that went to auction increased 35.2% week-on-week to 2,405 across the capital cities.  

There was a preliminary clearance rate of 75.7% taken from the 1,962 results recorded to date, up from last week’s final clearance rate of 72.5%, according to CoreLogic research analyst Caitlin Fono. 

Last week’s clearance rate was still below the rate recorded at the same time last year, when 77.1% of auctions held were successful. 

Last week, Melbourne had the busiest auction market with more than 1,000 auctions held for the first time this year. 

Of the 895 Melbourne results collected to date, 70.3% were successful. 

In Sydney, there were 892 auctions last week, up from 600 the week prior and up 42.7% compared to this time last year.  

The NSW capital recorded its highest preliminary clearance rate since late October despite the increase in volumes, with 79.6% of the 739 results collected so far returning a successful result. 

In Canberra, the city recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate for the third consecutive week, with 81.9% of the 117 auctions held recording a successful result.  

Brisbane’s preliminary clearance rate was 80.7%, followed by Adelaide with 80.4% and Perth with 73.3%.  

Across the smaller capital cities, auction activity was down 19.6% compared to the week prior. 

However, the number of auctions held across the smaller capitals was still more than double those seen this time last year.