There were 1,654 homes that went under the hammer across the combined capital cities with a preliminary clearance rate of 61.5% coming into the first week of winter.

Volumes were lower than the 2,055 homes auctioned last week, while clearance rate was higher than the 57.7% recorded previously— the highest final weighted average result in over a year, according to CoreLogic. Over the same week in 2018, a higher 2,281 homes were auctioned, 54.1% of which sold.

Melbourne and Sydney posted increases in their preliminary clearance rates. However, auction volumes also tracked downwards. Melbourne returned a 64% preliminary auction clearance rate across 733 auctions after last week’s final clearance rate of 59.6%.

 Sydney, meanwhile, had a 66.1% preliminary clearance rate, making it the best performing capital city in terms of initial results. This data come off the back of last week’s 62.1% final clearance rate, which was the highest the city has seen in over a year. There were fewer homes taken to auction across Sydney this week with 674 auctions held— down from the week prior when 707 auctions took place.

The remaining auction markets all logged a lower volume of auctions. Perth returned the highest preliminary result in the remaining markets with 55.6%. Only 26 homes, though, were taken to auction across the city last week.