Some cities up, some cities down but clearance rates still low

WEAKER auction clearance rates are seeing vendors “holding off from listing their homes”, according to a leading property data group.

Cotality reported that the preliminary auction clearance rate recorded a subtle rise last week to 49.2 per cent, up from 47.4 per cent the previous week.

But this marked the second consecutive week in which the preliminary clearance rate has remained below 50 per cent.

“Given that the gap between preliminary and final results has averaged five percentage points over the past four weeks, the final clearance rate is expected to settle in the low 40 per cent range again,” Cotality said.

Adelaide and Brisbane contributed positively to the national result, with preliminary clearance rates rising in both cities.

Melbourne and Sydney experienced slight declines but the broader uplift came from outside the two biggest auction markets.

“Not every property scheduled for auction made it under the hammer last week. Roughly one in five auctions was withdrawn, 21.5 per cent to be precise, down from 23.6 per cent the previous week,” Cotality added.

Among those that proceeded successfully, two in five sold before the auction even began, with preauction sales accounting for 41.3 per cent of results.

Across the combined capitals, auction volumes continued to decline, with 1771 homes taken to auction last week, representing a 5.8 per cent decrease from the previous week and a 13.4 per cent decline compared to the same period last year.

Although auction volumes were ahead of 2025 levels for most of the year, they have remained consistently lower year on year since mid-May.

“This trend shows that vendors appear to be holding off on listing in response to persistently weak clearance rates,” Cotality said.

Adelaide varied from the national trend. Auction volumes rose 23.7 percentage points to 115, nearly 28 per cent higher than the same period last year, and the preliminary clearance rate rose to 68.7 per cent, the strongest early result in five weeks.

Melbourne accounted for the majority of auction activity, with 815 homes auctioned, down 11.5 per cent on the previous week and 15.3 per cent on the same week last year.

The city’s preliminary clearance rate slipped to 50.2 per cent from 50.6 per cent, its softest outcome since early September 2021, when Melbourne was in its sixth period of strict lockdowns.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate remained relatively stable, decreasing by 0.1 percentage points to 47.3 per cent.

This represents the weakest early result since the week ending April 19 2020.

A total of 642 auctions were held across the city, consistent with the previous week but 16.7 per cent lower than the same period last year.

Across Brisbane’s 139 auctions, 39.3 per cent reported a successful outcome, a six percentage-point lift on the previous week, but still the lowest preliminary clearance rate of any capital city.

Volumes were 3.5 per cent lower than the previous week and 1.4 per cent down on a year earlier.

Among the smaller capitals, Canberra hosted 47 auctions with 39.5 per cent successful, Perth recorded 13 with four sold, and Tasmania held none.

Around 1800 auctions are scheduled this week, a modest step up, before volumes reduce to roughly 1540 the week after.