Early auction clearance rate indications point to a jump in Sydney and Melbourne, although volumes are down on last year and about a quarter of results from the weekend are yet to be factored in.
Data firm CoreLogic said 1,487 homes were up for offer across all capital cities - down from 2,002 a year ago - and its tally suggested about 66.4 per cent sold but this did not yet include results from 27 per cent of auctions.
The analysis company's preliminary figures for Sydney indicated 74.7 per cent of homes under the hammer in the city sold - although with only 376 of the 522 auctions counted, 28 per cent of results were still missing.
CoreLogic recorded a 67.9 per cent clearance rate in Melbourne based on the confirmed results of 574 auctions while another 151 were not included in the figures.
In Brisbane, CoreLogic counted a 37 per cent clearance rate based on the confirmed results of 46 auctions out of a total of 92 held across the city.
"It's likely that as the remaining results are collected, the final result will still hold above 60 per cent for the first time in over a year," CoreLogic analyst Kevin Brogan said, commenting on the clearance rate across Australian capital cities as a whole.
The numbers suggest a slide in auction volumes over the past three years, with Sydney's 522 auctions down from 708 in the same week last year and 927 during the period in 2017.
In Melbourne, last week's 725 homes open for bidding were a reduction compared to a weekly total of 992 in 2018 and 1,129 in 2017.
Brisbane auction numbers have also declined, with the weekend's total of 92 down from 117 in the same week last year and 151 at the same time two years ago.
CoreLogic said it expected Sydney's clearance rate to remain high when the finalised property data for the week - adjusted as more results are provided by real estate agents from their auctions - is released on Thursday.
"Even after we see the usual downwards revision over the week it's looking like this week will be the most successful result the city has seen since at least April last year, or possibly longer," Mr Brogan said.
