The national result for clearances was down on the previous week’s 74 per cent but an improvement on this time last year when the market was in a downturn.

Brisbane’s clearances was even worse with 59 per cent, down on the previous week’s 66 per cent.

The result would appear to indicate that buyers were holding off ahead of the November 7 meeting of the Reserve Bank board where it was expected that interest rates will be hiked for the 13th time since May last year.

CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless said it was the biggest week of auctions since just before Easter 2022 with 3383 capital city homes going under the hammer.

He said it was lowest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending April 9 2023, which was impacted by the Easter long weekend.

“Such a large number of auctions was always going to test the depth of buyer demand. With the prospect of another rate hike looming on Melbourne Cup day, it’s probably fair to say confidence has taken a hit and some buyers have become more nervous about the housing market outlook,” Lawless said.

The best clearance rate was in Adelaide with 85 per cent.

Lawless said the clearance rate held up in Melbourne (68.6 per cent) but dropped in Sydney (70.8 per cent).

Ray White had 511 auctions on its books for Saturday and had a preliminary clearance rate of 72 per cent.

A “no reserve” property in derelict conditions,  in Logan, had an Australian record of 161 registered bidders and sold for $494,700.

It was bought by an investor from Parramatta who planned to restore the house and rent it.

The opening bid for the property was $1.

Relative to last week, the preliminary clearance rate held firm in Melbourne (68.6%) but dropped in Sydney (from 74.2% last week, which revised down to 68.5%, to 70.8% this week). Adelaide (85.1%), where housing conditions remain quite strong, was the only capital to record a rise in the preliminary clearance rate (apart from Perth but on low volume).

The number of auctions next week is set to drop back to around 2,100.