Clearance rates hit six-year low as more than half of Australian homes up for auction fail to sell

Clearance rates in Australia’s capital cities have fallen to a six-year low, with fewer than half of homes at auction finding buyers. Preliminary data from Cotality shows 47.4% of homes that went to auction sold in the week ending Sunday 21 June. That figure is a weighted average encompassing different rates in different capitals, but the numbers are striking across the board. In Sydney, the clearance rate was 47.4%, with 166 homes withdrawn from auction. In Melbourne, 50.6% of homes sold under the hammer. In Brisbane, just 33.3% of homes found buyers. Perth and Adelaide both saw auction rates of 40%, with Canberra at 47.1%. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Clearance rates that low were last seen in April 2020, at the outset of the Covid pandemic. Annabelle Mezieres, an economist at Cotality, said the property company expects auction rates to ease even further in the future. “Auction volumes look set to ease further over the coming weeks, partly a seasonal trend but also likely in response to weaker selling conditions,” she wrote in a statement, noting nearly 24% of scheduled auctions were withdrawn and nearly half, 48%, sold before going under the hammer. The revelations come less than a week after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold at 4.35% , a decision that, while expected, will still see many mortgage holders on much higher repayments than earlier this year. …