Sydney, Melbourne auction clearance rates hit highest for a year
The housing market showed signs of bouncing back in the June quarter, with the highest auction clearance rate in a year for Australia's capital cities, but auction volume was down significantly.
There were 18,104 auctions and 55.5 per cent resulted in sales in the three months to June 30, CoreLogic said on Monday.
In the same period last year, 25,824 homes went to auction, 57.8 per cent successfully.
"The improved trend in auction market results provides further evidence that housing conditions are stabilising, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, where a trend towards higher clearance rates has been most pronounced," CoreLogic analyst Cameron Kusher said.
Last week, 854 homes were auctioned across Australia's capital cities, with a preliminary clearance rate of 69 per cent.
This time last year, 1178 homes were auctioned, with a clearance rate of 52 per cent.
In Sydney last week, there were 318 auctions, with a preliminary clearance rate of 77.2 per cent, and CoreLogic expected the final figure to hold just above 70 per cent when all results were collected.
The week previous, 71.3 per cent of the city's 359 auctions were successful - the highest clearance rate the city has seen in over two years.
This time last year, Sydney held 408 auctions in a week with a clearance rate of 46.9 per cent.
Melbourne last week held 352 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 73.6 per cent, compared to 559 auctions and a 56.2 per cent clearance rate a year ago.
Westpac economist Matthew Hassan said the main caveat continued to be low volumes, and the spring selling season seemed to be shaping up as a major test, "albeit one that is still a few months away".
AAP