Sydney, Melbourne auction clearance rates top 80pc as listings fall

Sydney and Melbourne’s sizzling housing markets stepped up the pressure on buyers last week as both cities recorded auction clearance rates of more than 80 per cent. The stronger figures, driven in part by a Melbourne auction market down by almost 500 properties from last week, pulled the preliminary national auction clearance rate up to 78.1 per cent from 74.5 per cent a week earlier, CoreLogic figures showed.

Record-low interest rates continue to drive demand for property in Australia’s two largest cities. While banking regulator APRA’s new restrictions on investor lending announced on Friday are likely to slow the markets in Sydney and Melbourne in time, they appear to remain unchecked for the moment. House price growth in March picked up to 19 per cent in Sydney and 16 per cent in Melbourne, CoreLogic said.

It was the third week this year that the two largest cities exceeded an 80 per cent clearance rate. Sydney’s 80.7 per cent clearance rate – based on the results of 870 auctions reported – was up from the previous week’s 75.8 per cent, which reflected results of 987 auctions. Melbourne’s figure of 80.6 per cent, based on 1007 reported auction results, marked a large fall in volumes. The previous week’s 78.9 per cent clearance rate was based on 1607 auctions.

The last time Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all cleared the 80 per cent level was over the Easter weekend of April 2015, when significantly lower volumes boosted clearance rates.

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