Victorian lockdown halts what was to be a near-record auction week

• Last week was expected to be the second busiest auction week of the year, but with Victoria in another lockdown on Thursday, volumes fell
• There were 2930 homes taken to auction over the week which is currently the third-highest number of auctions this year across the combined capitals
• Of the 2460 results collected so far, clearance rates dipped to 75.7 per cent, according to data from CoreLogic
• CoreLogic reported that 20.6 per cent of Melbourne auctions were reported as withdrawn, while 48.4 per cent of successful auctions were sold prior to auction
• A standout sale over the week was 16 Greycliffe Street, Queenscliff in NSW which enjoyed the top-selling auction, going under the hammer for $8.65 million

Last week was expected to be the second busiest auction week of the year, but with Victoria in another lockdown on Thursday, volumes fell.

There were 2930 homes taken to auction over the week which is currently the third-highest number of auctions this year across the combined capitals. Of the 2460 results collected so far, clearance rates dipped to 75.7 per cent, according to data from CoreLogic.

With Melbourne currently in lockdown, 1264 homes were taken to auction in the week ending May 30, compared to 1291 over the previous week and 261 this time last year.

CoreLogic reported that 20.6 per cent of Melbourne auctions were reported as withdrawn, while 48.4 per cent of successful auctions were sold prior to auction

Over the year to date and excluding the temporary lock down period in February, the average proportion of auctions sold prior to the auction event was about 26 per cent and only around 4.5 per cent of auctions are withdrawn. 

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said it was pleasing to see a resilient Melbourne market.

“While some auctions were pulled forward to beat the lockdown, a mountain of work from our agents saw the majority of auctions continue online – and that resulted in some spectacular outcomes with more than 100 online auctions conducted,” he said.

“Our preliminary clearance rate is well into the 80 per cent, a sign once again that the real estate market can combat anything that’s thrown at it.”

 There were 1177 homes taken to auction across Sydney this week with an 81 per cent clearance rate.

Across the smaller capital cities, Canberra recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 84.7 per cent, followed by Brisbane where preliminary results show 71.9 per cent of auctions were successful.

Adelaide recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 69.3 per cent, while in Perth, 34.8 per cent of the 38 reported auctions were successful. 

Tasmania only witnessed two auctions over the week, with just one of them being successful, a $955,000 Howrah family home.

A standout sale over the week was 16 Greycliffe Street, Queenscliff in NSW which enjoyed the top-selling auction, going under the hammer for $8,650,000.

The sale just edged out Pavillions 15/1 Airport Drive, Hamilton Island in Queensland which enjoyed a sale price of $8,450,000 and the third-highest auction of the week in Maroubra of $6,540,000.

Before the lockdown, 15 Grandview Road, Wheelers Hill went under the hammer for $3,030,800, the highest auction sale in the state for the week.