Auction activity continues to slow despite last month’s rate cut
Are home buyers waiting for more help from the RBA as confidence from the February rate seems to be fading from the housing market?
HOME buyers look to be pinning their hopes on another rate cut by the Reserve Bank as house-buying slipped for another week.
Ray White NSW/ACT head of auctions Perry Edmondson-Clark says there is hope of improved sales over the coming months.
“While our active bidders per auction dropped slightly this week, our clearance rate remained very strong at circa 80 per cent,” Mr Edmondson-Clark said.
“The amount of sellers still does not correlate with the amount of buyers, making it a great time to list and experience great competition.
“We eagerly await the RBA’s decision at their next meeting, as buyers are certainly filled with confidence currently.”
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless suggested confidence from the February rate cut was fading from the housing market.
“Preliminary auction clearance rates from CoreLogic Australia continued their slow melt, slipping to 68.7 per cent across the combined capitals this week,” he said.
That’s down from 69.1 per cent – the lowest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending 9th February 2025.
“There were 2,435 capital city homes taken to auction this week, down slightly week-on-week when there were 2,472 homes under the hammer,” he added.
“This time last year was the week leading up to Easter, so auction activity was much higher across the combined capitals and the number stood at 3,519.”
In Melbourne, 1,249 homes were taken to auction this week, up from 1,192 last week. Its preliminary clearance rate came in at 70.6 per cent – up 30 basis points from last week.
In Sydney, 837 homes went under the hammer, down from 893 last week.
The preliminary clearance rate slipped to 69.1 per cent, after holding above the 70 per cent mark for the past six weeks.
Brisbane hosted the most auctions across the smaller capitals, with 148 homes taken to auction.
A preliminary clearance rate of 61.5 per cent was reported, up from 59.0 per cent a week before
This is the highest preliminary clearance rate the city has seen so far this year, according to the analyst.
