By James Glynn
SYDNEY--Australia's property market slowdown is gathering pace, with less than half of houses offered for sale at auctions successfully finding a buyer.
There were 1,748 combined capital city auctions in the week ended June 28, a 7.0% decline from 1,880 the previous week and 14.5% lower than the same week a year ago, according to property research group Cotality.
The weighted average final clearance rate, a measure of sales, rose to 45.0%, from 42.3% the prior week. It was the fifth consecutive week where the combined capitals clearance rate held below 50%, the data showed.
The weakness is concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, the country's two biggest property markets.
The drop in demand is leading to a fall in prices that some economists expect will stretch into next year.
Tax changes for investment properties announced in May and higher interest rates are fanning the slide.
Of the 1,748 auctions held across the combined capital cities, 662 were passed in and 299 withdrawn, resulting in about 55% of vendors leaving without a sale, Cotality said in a market update Thursday.
Sydney recorded the highest number of withdrawals at 162, while Melbourne had the highest pass-in count at 327.
Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com