The auction market has bounced back, with clearance rates hitting a 12-month high.
Domain’s latest Auction Report Card says the clearance rate for the combined capital cities hit 65% in February.
Sydney had the highest clearance rate of 69%, followed by Adelaide’s 68%, Melbourne 64%, Canberra 58%, and Brisbane 52%.
CoreLogic reports shows clearance rates above 70% during March.
Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell says the increase in clearance rates is in line with the seasonal post January jump in auction listings.
“Historically, clearance rates tend to bounce early in the year, and they are often higher than the previous year had closed, but it is too early to use this as a measure of green shoots within the property market, given the normal seasonal bounce that occurs in February,” she says.
But CoreLogic figures show auction clearance rates in 2023 to date have been substantially higher relative to late last year.
SQM Research’s Louis Christopher says, while increased auction clearance rates are typical during this time of year, “it’s now getting to the point of being beyond a seasonal thing”.
“There’s something more to it than that now,” he says.
Christopher says despite the good clearance rates it is too early to determine if the market has bottomed.
