The number of auctions held across the country’s capital cities over the past week increased 1.2% from a week earlier to a total of 1,734, and is set to exceed 2,000 in the next seven days, according to property researcher Cotality.

Sydney accounted for 709 auctions, broadly in line with the prior week, while Melbourne registered a weekly increase of 18.4% to 612 and Adelaide reported 149 — the highest reading since March.

Clearance rates rose 4.3 percentage points to 51.5% after falling to a six-year low last week. The latest reading was helped along by an almost 10 percentage point gain for Melbourne alone, according to Cotality.