Combined capitals preliminary auction clearance rate rises to 51.5%

There were 1,734 auctions held across the combined capital cities last week, with volumes rising by 1.2% from the previous week. That said, activity was down 43.5% compared with the corresponding week last year.  

Auction activity has remained more than 40% below year-ago levels in three of the past four weeks. Melbourne has recorded a particularly pronounced reduction, with auction numbers approximately 55% below the corresponding 2025 levels since reserve price transparency rules came into effect in mid-October, excluding the previous week’s long-weekend result.

The combined capital cities recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 51.5%, up 4.3 percentage points from 47.2% in the previous week. This was only marginally above the spring-to-date average of 51.1% and remained below the winter average of 52.3%. The improvement in the headline clearance rate was largely driven by Melbourne, with its preliminary clearance rate increasing by almost 10 percentage points, while Sydney recorded a modest decline.

Sydney recorded the highest auction volume, with 709 homes taken to auction, down  40.2% from the corresponding week last year. Activity was virtually unchanged from the previous week, when 710 auctions were held. Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate declined by 1.5 percentage points, from 53.8% in the previous week to 52.3%. The city’s preliminary clearance rate has averaged 54.3% through spring to date, slightly above the winter average of 52.9%.

Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate rose to 59.1%, the highest result in eight weeks and above the spring-to-date average of 55.1%. The city hosted 612 auctions, representing an 18.4% increase from the previous week, although volumes remained 55.9% below the corresponding level last year.

Auction activity in Brisbane was 14.8% lower than a year earlier, with 178 homes taken to auction. This was the highest volume among the smaller capital cities, despite representing a 24.9% decline from the previous week. Brisbane’s preliminary clearance rate increased to 31.2%, following results in the mid-20% range over the preceding two weeks.

Adelaide recorded its highest auction volume since the final week of March, with 149 homes taken to auction. The preliminary clearance rate was 43.5%, down 2.9 percentage points from 46.5% in the previous week and below the spring-to-date average of 44.5%.

The ACT’s preliminary clearance rate increased by 8.3 percentage points to 47.2%. There were 68 auctions held across the territory, 12.8% fewer than in the previous week and 50.0% below the corresponding week last year.

17 auctions were held in Perth, with a preliminary clearance rate of 36.4%. Tasmania hosted one auction, which returned a successful result.