Research from CoreLogic RP Data has shown out of all of Australia’s capital cities, Melbourne had the highest proportion of residential listings taken to auction over the 2014/15 financial year with 39%.
The Victorian capital came in just ahead of Sydney, where 38% of residential listing went to auction, with Canberra coming in third with 36%.
There’s a dramatic fall off after the top three spots, with Adelaide taking fourth place with 16%, while Darwin and Brisbane both recorded 11%.
Perth and Hobart were even further behind, with 3% and 2% respectively.
Nationally, 26% of residential listings in Australia were taken to auction over the 12-month period and CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless said the popularity of auctions for residential properties has been growing for a number of years.
“Auction listings have been rising since the 2008/09 financial year when back then, auctions comprised of a much lower 16% of all dwellings listed for sale,” Lawless said
“Considering how hot the housing market conditions currently are in Melbourne and Sydney, the rise in the proportion of residential properties taken to auction should come as no surprise. I expect we’ll see auctions continue as a popular method for selling residential property,” he said.
Looking deeper into the figures, Canberra has the highest proportion of houses that go to auction, with 46%, while Melbourne leads the way for units with 41%.
On a suburb-by-suburb basis, Sydney is home to the five individual suburbs with the highest proportion of houses sent to auction, with more than 95% of house sales in Queens Park, Clovelly, North Wahroonga, and Alexandria done by auction.
Melbourne tops the suburb list for units, with more than 90% of units in Kew East and Carlton done via auction.
Sydney then rounds out the top five, with Bronte, Dolls Point and Bondi Beach all sending more than 87% of their unit listings to auction.
