Auction clearances hit 19-week high as buyers return
Australia’s auction market has recorded its strongest preliminary clearance rate in 19 weeks, with buyers responding to fresh spring listings and more realistic vendor expectations even as analysts caution that property prices may not yet have reached a floor.
The national preliminary clearance rate rose to 58.5 per cent, up from 52.7 per cent the previous week, according to Cotality.
Auction activity also increased 11.4 per cent from the previous week. However, Cotality research director Tim Lawless said overall volumes remained more than 30 per cent below the same period a year earlier, highlighting the relatively limited supply behind the improved clearance result.
The stronger figures arrive as the market faces another potential test from interest rates. The report said experts were watching the possibility of one or two additional rate increases when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets later this month and again in November.
Melbourne leads improvement
Melbourne posted its highest early clearance rate in almost six months, with 63.3 per cent of properties selling based on preliminary results.
Despite the improvement, auction volumes remained sharply lower than last year. Melbourne recorded 713 homes going to auction, down 42.5 per cent from 1,240 during the comparable period in 2025.
Property analyst Louis Christopher of SQM Research said Melbourne’s stronger auction activity could represent an early sign that conditions were improving, although he cautioned that this did not necessarily mean prices had stopped falling.
He said clearance rates suggested a potential floor was emerging in market activity rather than property values.
Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 59.6 per cent, compared with 57.7 per cent the previous week. That earlier figure was subsequently revised to a final clearance rate of 52.5 per cent.
Christopher said Sydney still had further to fall. SQM expected Sydney and Melbourne to record calendar-year price declines of 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively, while the report said HSBC had recently forecast a 16 per cent peak-to-trough fall in Sydney values.
Buyers respond where vendors adjust expectations
Individual auction results showed buyers were prepared to compete where properties were priced to meet current conditions.
A four-bedroom semi in Bondi Beach carrying a $3.4 million guide sold under the hammer for $3.62 million to a local couple moving from an apartment.
Selling agent Chris Volpatti of McGrath described the outcome as strong for the current market, while noting the property may have achieved a higher result under 2021 conditions.
Brisbane also improved, with 41.6 per cent of 168 homes clearing on preliminary numbers, up substantially from the previous week’s 24.8 per cent.
The strongest reported Brisbane sale was a $17 million luxury home in Ascot. Four registered bidders competed for the renovated Federation property at 1 Sutherland Avenue, which includes a wellness studio and pool.
Adelaide recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 55.6 per cent, also improving from the previous week.
Ray White chief executive of performance and value Thomas McGlynn said consecutive improvements in clearance rates indicated the spring selling season was in better shape than previously expected, but cautioned against drawing conclusions from a single week.
For property investors, the figures suggest transaction activity may stabilise before prices themselves do. Lower auction volumes, vendor price adjustments and the outlook for interest rates remain important factors as the spring market develops.
SOURCE ATTRIBUTION:
Based on reporting by Bonnie Campbell. Source publication,
