After rising steadily through the second half of winter, auction activity within the combined capital cities looks set to host the busiest auction week since early April and the second busiest week of the year-to-date.

While recent auction results are by no means explosive, the auction environment remains strong heading further into the spring selling season, with clearance rates at the start of the month (71.2%) suggesting the strongest start to a selling season since covid.

Based on CoreLogic data, 2,436 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer this week, up 7.1% on last week (2,275) and 10.6% above the 2,203 auctions held last year.

While Melbourne’s auction activity looks set to stay above the 1,000 mark for the fourth consecutive week, with 1,008 auctions currently scheduled across the city, Sydney is expecting the second busiest auction week of the year-to-date – behind the week ending 2 April (1,017).

The number of homes currently scheduled for auction across Sydney is up 12.5% (1,010) on last week (898).

Beyond the two largest state capitals, Brisbane also looks set to host its busiest week since late April (203), up 36.4% on last week, with 180 homes currently scheduled for auction.

The next busiest city for auction activity this week is Adelaide, with 125 homes set for auction, followed by Canberra, at 104.

Heading west, Perth currently has nine homes scheduled for auction, down from 13 last week, while there are no auctions scheduled in Tasmania.

While clearance rates in Sydney remain above 70%, Melbourne has been holding below 70% [on finalised numbers] since mid-June and the weighted average across capital city auctions last week was 65.8%.

Overall, CoreLogic believes early indicators bode well for a further rise in auction activity as the spring selling season ramps up.

With financing still remaining expensive, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee notes auction numbers heading into spring selling season were a lot stronger than expected. Conisbee attributes strong bidding activity to population growth, housing shortages, and expensive rent – which she suspects is being driven by rental market diaspora.

The key trend to watch through spring, suggests CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless is rising auction numbers and volumes, which could deliver future price growth.