Home sales across Australia's capital cities have edged higher in the past week, but softness in the Sydney market has continued to weigh on prices.
The national auction clearance rate rose to 65.4 per cent in the week to November 19, preliminary figures from property data group CoreLogic show, up from a revised 62.8 per cent in the previous week.
The improvement made it the third busiest week for auctions so far this year, with 3,335 properties under the hammer across the capital cities.
The final clearance rate is, however, expected to stay below 65 per cent, CoreLogic said, as it has for the past four weeks.
In the same week last year, 2,987 homes were taken to auction with a clearance rate of 74.4 per cent.
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"One of the biggest contributors to the softer auction market conditions is Sydney, where the final clearance rate has remained below 60 per cent since the last week of October, while Melbourne has slipped below 70 per cent for the second week in a row," CoreLogic said.
Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 61.5 per cent and Melbourne 69.6 per cent, while Brisbane reported 49.6 per cent.
Home prices also remained flat across the combined five capital cities, reflecting the easing conditions.
Prices were unchanged over the week in Sydney, rose 0.1 per cent in Melbourne and Adelaide, while Perth was the best performer with a 0.2 per cent rise.
Brisbane was the only capital city to record a decline in home prices over the week, down 0.1 per cent.
