CoreLogic says the auction market is starting to bounce back from the seasonal slowdown, with almost three times the number of auctions held this week compared with last week, although volumes are lower than the same week last year. CoreLogic was tracking 779 auctions this week, compared with just 276 last week, while 881 homes were taken to auction this week last year.
Although the overall number of auctions is lower than this time last year, Melbourne was the only capital city to see an increase in volumes year-on-year. The preliminary auction clearance rate, based on the 578 auction results reported so far, was recorded at 67.7 per cent across the combined capital cities, compared to 72.8 per cent last week and 68.8 per cent last year.
All cities recorded a stronger preliminary clearance rate than what was recorded at the end of 2017, however, with auction activity only just starting to pick up, we should get a better idea over the coming weeks as to whether the clearance rates will revert back to the lower levels seen towards the end of last year.
