The auction market rebounded over the week ending October 14, with Melbourne and Sydney continuing to register highest numbers of homes going under the hammer.

CoreLogic’s Property Market Indicator Summary reported that 1,850 homes were taken to auction across the combined capital cities during the week, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 50.7%.

The figures are slightly higher than the final auction clearance rate of 49.5% recorded the previous week, which accounted for 1,817 auctions. This is still lower than the same period in 2017, which clocked a clearance rate of 67.1% and an auction volume of 2,525.

Assessing the results by property type, it was found that units generated stronger auction results than houses. According to the data, 58% of units were sold, compared to only 48% of houses. This is worth noting as units saw a nearly-identical success rate during the same time last year.

Melbourne continued to lead the market with 914 auctions held. This translated to preliminary clearance rate of 52.1%. The preceding week saw 904 homes go under the hammer in the city, returning a final clearance rate of 51.8%

Sydney, on the other hand, logged a total of 645 auctions during the week with preliminary results clearance rate of 52%. This was higher than the past week’s 46.1%, which translate to 611 auctions sold.

The most expensive property bought last week was a six-bed, three-bath, and two-car house in Newport, New South Wales (NSW) which sold for $4,850,000. The second-highest sale, meanwhile, was in Strathfield, NSW: a five-bed, six-bath, and seven-car house that went for $4,350,000.

Perth was city with the highest median “time on market” length among houses at 83 days this week. Brisbane came next (67 days), followed by Darwin (56 days).

It is likely that the final weighted average result across the nation will trend lower as more results are gathered – CoreLogic is expecting 50% final clearance rates for the 3rd consecutive week.