Auction activity across capital cities remained weak over the weekend but clearance rates are starting to improve due to fewer withdrawals, according to the latest report from CoreLogic.
Over the weekend, 590 capital city homes were scheduled for auction, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 59.6% These figures were an improvement from the previous weekend's 413 auction volume and 41.1% clearance rate.
Caitlin Fono, analyst at CoreLogic, said fewer scheduled auctions will likely help normalise the withdrawal rate, which will, in turn, improve the success rate of auctions. The surge in auction withdrawals over the past few weekends has resulted in a dramatic fall in clearance rates.
"It's likely the number of scheduled auctions will remain substantially lower than normal, at least until social distancing policies are lifted and on-site auctions can resume," she said.
Of all capital cities, Sydney auctioned 269 auctions and returned a success rate of 62.7%. Melbourne had a similar performance, reporting 210 auction volume and 63% clearance rate.
Across smaller cities, Canberra outperformed its peers with 31 scheduled auctions and a 72.2% clearance rate.
The table below shows the performance of each capital city market:
