Auction results shows signs of cooling property market

In more evidence that Australia’s property market is set for a slowdown, the national auction preliminary clearance rate has come in below 70% for the sixth consecutive week.

According to figures from CoreLogic RP Data, the preliminary clearance rate for last week’s 3,086 auctions sits at 66.6%, following soft results in Melbourne and Sydney. The clearance rate is now sitting at the second lowest mark for the year.

Melbourne may have had it busiest week of the year last week with 1,663 auctions, but the increased volumes weren’t snapped up by buyers. The preliminary clearance rate came in at just 69.8%, which is currently the city’s third lowest result for the year. At the same time last year, Melbourne hosted 1,837 auctions and recorded a clearance rate of 71%.

In Sydney, it looks like the harbour city is in for another week of a sub-70% clearance rate, with its preliminary clearance rate currently at 64.4% from 996 auctions.

That mark so far represents a small increase on the previous week’s final clearance rate of 63.7%, but is far below the 74.8% recorded across 961 auctions at the same time last year.

In Brisbane, however, an increase in auction volumes seemed to attract buyers this week. The Queensland capital’s current clearance rate sits at 54.8% from 223 auctions, compared to last week’s final rate of 47.6% from 145 auctions.

Adelaide has the country’s highest clearance rate, with it currently sitting at 74.6%, a mark that is higher than both the previous week (67.5%) and the same week a year ago (56.5%).

Canberra’s preliminary clearance rate sits at 67.5%, while Perth’s is currently 31.3%.

Of the eight Tasmanian auction results reported so far this week, four sales have been recorded.

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