Despite some improvement, Australia’s auction market looks to have returned another national clearance rate below 70%.

Early figures from CoreLogic put the national preliminary clearance rate at 69.1% for last week, which represents a slight increase on the previous week’s result of 67.4%.

Last week saw 2,189 auctions held across the country, while the corresponding week 12 months ago saw a clearance rate of 76.9% recorded from 2,249 auctions.

Melbourne was the busiest auction market last week, with the Victorian capital holding 1,025 auctions, relatively consistent with the 1,085 it held the week before.

The preliminary clearance rate in the city is currently 68.4%, which again is relatively stable compared to the previous week’s result; however it is the third straight week Melbourne’s clearance rate has been below 70%.

The Inner City was Melbourne’s busiest sub-region, with it holding 202 auctions and returning a preliminary clearance rate of 65.6%.

In Sydney, the preliminary clearance rate is currently at 77.1%, up from the previous week’s 73.4% and is the 10th straight week Sydney has recorded a clearance rate above 70%.

Sydney held 797 auctions last week, with the Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury sub-regions recording the strongest clearance rates at 86.7%.

In Brisbane, last week saw 171 homes go under the hammer, up from the previous week’s 120.

The preliminary clearance rate in the Queensland capital currently sits at 48.1%, representing a rise on the previous week’s result of 43.1%.

In Adelaide, 89 auctions were held last week, with the preliminary clearance currently sitting at 67.6%.

The previous week saw Adelaide return a clearance rate of 64.8%, while one year ago a clearance rate of 69.9% was recorded.

In Canberra, last week’s preliminary clearance rate sits 64.5%, up from the 61% recorded over the previous week.

Canberra held 55 auctions last week, compared to 66 the week prior.

In Perth, 42 auctions were held last week, down from the previous week’s 55.

Perth’s preliminary clearance rate sits at 28.6%, down from the previous week’s 31.9%.