Key Findings
- This weekend is another Super Saturday with 3,039 auctions set to go under the hammer.
- Sydney is set for one of the busiest Saturday’s on record, despite the slight weekly drop in volumes.
- Adelaide breaks last week’s high for the busiest Saturday on record.
- Another bumper volume of auctions will help to ease buyer competition and further test the pool of active buyers.
- Saturday 11th December is set to have a record-breaking number of auctions in Sydney and Canberra. It will also be the 2nd busiest Saturday ever in Melbourne and Adelaide.
Auction Volumes
Table 1. Upcoming auction summary, 4 December 2021
There are 3,039 auctions scheduled across the capitals this week, down 2.5 per cent compared to last week. This is the third week in a row of Super Saturday auction volumes.
Across the combined capital cities auction listings have dropped from the almost 4 year high last week and are lower in all capitals except Adelaide. Overall, volumes remain elevated for the time of year, with the run of busy Saturday’s continuing to test the number of buyers active in the market.
Auction volume highlights:
- Sydney is set for one of the busiest Saturday’s on record despite the weekly drop. Saturday 11th December will be a record number of auctions.
- Melbourne will host its 9th busiest Saturday and on Saturday 11th December will have the 2nd highest number of auctions for the city.
- Adelaide is in for another record-breaking auction day this coming Saturday.
- Canberra is hosting the 9th highest auction volume the city has seen, with December 11th set to be record-breaking.
Figure 1. Saturday auction volume, combined capitals
Auction volumes remain extremely elevated for the time of year, suggesting homeowners are aiming to sell while market conditions remain favourable.
Upcoming Saturday volumes compared to corresponding Saturdays’ five-year average across the major auction markets;
- Combined Capitals volumes are up 38 per cent
- Sydney is up 45 per cent
- Melbourne is up 32 per cent
- Canberra is up 29 per cent
Auction results
Table 2. Saturday auction results, 27th November 2021
Last Saturday saw a marginal increase in the combined capital clearance rate from the previous week, driven by Sydney. All capital cities aside from Sydney saw a dip in clearance rates. Melbourne had the softest clearance rate in quite some time, lowest in the previous 9 weeks. As more homes hit the market, increased choice and reduced competition will test seller price expectations and help to shift to a buyers’ market.
Canberra continues to see extraordinary results, notching 24 consecutive Saturdays with clearances above 80 per cent.
Weekly change in auction clearance rates:
- Up 0.3 percentage points in Combined Capitals
- Up 6.4 percentage points in Sydney
- Down 2.4 percentage points in Melbourne
- Down 6.4 percentage points in Brisbane
- Down 9.9 percentage points in Adelaide
- Down 4.5 percentage points in Canberra
Figure 2. Saturday clearance rate, combined capitals
Region performance
Table 3: Region breakdown of auction clearance rates
Methodology
The Domain auction clearance rate is the percentage of properties successfully sold prior to, or at, an auction. The clearance rate is calculated by dividing auction sales by the number of reported auctions, including those withdrawn or postponed.
Domain aims to collect all auction outcomes, this can take longer in some states. Cities with below 95% reporting rate are considered to be preliminary. Perth, Hobart and Darwin not included due to either low volumes of scheduled auctions or due to the lag time of collections.
Auctions scheduled: The number of all auctions scheduled for the day, including those that were withdrawn from auction at the last minute. Reporting Rate: The number of auction results collected by Domain out of the total auctions. Auction Sold: Property sold under auction conditions, or prior to auction. Withdrawn: Property did not go to auction. Passed in: Property did not sell at auction. For the purpose of calculating auction clearance rates, properties sold after auction are considered Passed in results.