Auction clearance rates hit an 8-month high ahead of the federal election

• Auction clearance rates have risen to the highest level in eight months, according to CoreLogic.

• Despite higher clearance levels, home prices are still falling in Australia's largest cities.

• The federal election this Saturday will see auction activity decline in all capitals except for Perth.

---

Auction clearance rates in Australia continue to grind higher, lifting to levels not seen since mid-September last year.

According to CoreLogic, a final combined capital clearance rate of 54.0% was achieved, up from 52.5% in the prior seven day period but below the preliminary estimate of 58.1% reported last Sunday.

Image: CoreLogic

Weaker volumes may have contributed to the higher clearance level with only 1,218 homes going under the hammer, down from 1,479 a week earlier.

CoreLogic received results from 1,031 of the auctions that took place, or 84.6%. That was slightly firmer than the 84.2% reporting rate seen seven days earlier.

In the same week a year ago, a final clearance rate of 58.2% was reported from 2,279 auctions held.

Image: CoreLogic

By individual capital, Sydney's clearance level continued to improve, lifting from 57.2% to 59.0% week-on-week. In contrast, Melbourne's softened over the same period, dropping from 56.6% to 55.7%.

Across the smaller capitals, half of the reported results in Perth cleared, a far stronger performance compared to a week earlier when only 14.9% sold.

Aside from Brisbane, clearance rates declined in all remaining capital cities.

While the national clearance rate now sits at an eight-month high, median home prices across Australia's largest cities continue to fall.

According to CoreLogic’s daily hedonic home value series, median prices in Sydney fell by 0.4% during the week, double the 0.2% falls seen in Perth and Brisbane and 0.1% decline registered in Melbourne.

Adelaide values were near unchanged from the prior week.

With the federal election held on Saturday, only 868 auctions are scheduled to take place across the capitals this week.

398 of those will be held in Melbourne while 259 will take place in Sydney. Only Perth will see a lift in activity compared to a week earlier.