Auction market responds positively to August rate cut

The volume of auctions held last week leapt 24.3% relative to the week prior, with 1,972 capital city homes taken under the hammer, the highest volume of auctions in seven weeks.

The market has responded positively to the August rate cut, with the combined capital’s preliminary auction clearance rate rising to 75.0%, 3.3 percentage points higher than the previous week, and the highest early clearance rate since the first week of April last year (75.9%). The lift in early success rates was broad-based, with every capital city recording a rise relative to the week prior.

There were 961 auctions held in Melbourne last week, the highest volume in seven weeks and a solid 29.5% jump on the volume of auctions held the previous week (742). 75.5% of auctions have been reported as successful so far, 4.6 percentage points higher than the week prior and the highest early result since the last week of July ‘25 when the preliminary clearance rate reached 76.3%.

Sydney hosted 720 auctions last week, a 29.5% jump relative to the week prior (556) and the highest weekly volume of auctions held since the last week of June (771). 75.0% of auctions were reported as sold based on the results collected so far, the highest preliminary result since the week ending July 13 and the third highest early result through the year-to-date.

In Brisbane, 137 auctions were held last week, up 10.5% from the previous week. The preliminary clearance rate came in at 69.6%, up 2.6 percentage points on the week prior.

There were 90 homes auctioned in Adelaide last week with 78.0% so far reported as sold — the highest preliminary clearance rate since the last week of June (80.8%) and the third highest so far this year.

Canberra hosted 52 auctions last week, down slightly from the 57 held the previous week, with the preliminary clearance rate surging to the city’s highest since the first week of June last year at 80.6%.

In Perth, six of 11 auction results have been collected so far, three of which were successful. There was one auction scheduled in Tasmania last week which was sold after auction.

Auction activity is set to rise further this week, with approximately 2,100 homes currently scheduled for auction, marking the first time the volume of capital city auctions has breached the 2,000 mark since the last week of June (2,044).

Download the full Property Market Indicator - week ending 17 August  2025

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