Clearance rates and auction volumes winding down for 2025

The number of auctions held last week fell by 8.1% relative to the week prior, with 2,932 homes taken under the hammer across the combined capitals. Auction activity is expected to fall further this week, with the volume of scheduled auctions falling to around 1,330, before reducing to virtually nothing until market activity starts picking back up in mid-January.

The preliminary clearance rate fell to 62.7% last week, 80 basis points below the week prior (63.5% which revised down to 57.7% once finalised) and marked the lowest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending December 8th, 2024.

While the reduction in volume is following the typical seasonal pattern, the gradual easing in auction clearance rates, which has been evident since mid-September, has more to do with market conditions. Cotality’s high frequency daily Home Value Index (HVI) is showing a clear slowdown in the pace of growth through December, especially in the major auction markets of Sydney and Melbourne. Over the past four weeks, Cotality’s daily HVI for Sydney has levelled out to a 0.0% change, while the four-week rate of growth in Melbourne values has eased back to 0.1%.

Melbourne led the volume of auctions last week with 1,474 homes going under the hammer, down 8.8% on the previous week’s volume. The preliminary clearance rate held reasonably steady at 65.7%, 20 basis points higher than the week prior (65.5%).

966 homes were taken to auction in Sydney last week, down 11.3% from the week prior. The preliminary clearance rate fell to the city’s lowest since the week ending December 8th, with 58.1% of auction collected so far reporting a successful result, 3.4 percentage points lower than the preliminary rate recorded (61.5%) a week ago.

Brisbane hosted 184 auctions last week, two more than the week prior, with 60.3% of results reported so far returning a positive result, a 5.6 percentage point rise on the previous week.

Adelaide saw 153 homes go to auction over the week, a 5.0% reduction on the previous week. The preliminary clearance rate fell by 1.2 percentage points to 69.7%

Canberra recorded 137 auctions last week, a solid 24.5% jump on the volume the week prior. The preliminary clearance rates also ticked higher, up 3.9 percentage points from the previous week to 59.6%.

Perth hosted 18 auctions, with 46.2% of the results collected so far retuning a positive result, while no auctions were held in Tasmania last week.

Please note, this is the final Property market indicator summary for 2025. Cotality’s Property market indicator summary will return on Monday January 12th, 2026, with auction reporting re-commencing in late January or early February depending on volumes.