Melbourne’s jump pushes capital city auction clearance rates above 50% in the first week after RBA’s November rise
Capital city auction clearance rates lifted in the first week of auctions since the Reserve Bank of Australia’s fifth rate rise of 2026, with a sharp improvement in Melbourne doing the heavy lifting.
Auction volumes, however, remained well below last year’s levels.
Cotality Australia’s preliminary figures for the week ending 8 November showed 1,734 homes went to auction across the combined capitals, 1.2% more than the previous week but 43.5% fewer than the same week a year earlier.
The preliminary clearance rate – the share of homes taken to auction that sold before, at or shortly after auction day – rose to 51.5%, up 4.3 percentage points from last week’s preliminary 47.2%. That earlier result was revised down to 40.7% once final figures were in.
Tim Lawless, research director at Cotality, said the result was only marginally above the spring average to date of 51.1% and remained below the winter average of 52.3%. “More auctions, a higher clearance rate, but auction markets remain soft,” Lawless said.
Ray White Group, which reports on-the-day results from its own network, booked a preliminary clearance rate of 42.6% across 739 scheduled auctions, up from 35.5% a week earlier.
What does the latest rate rise mean for auction buyers?
The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.85% last week, its highest level since 2008, in a six-to-three vote of its Monetary Policy Board.
It was the fifth increase this year, following rises in February, March, May and September, and the bank set out its outlook in the November 2026 Statement on Monetary Policy overview.
Thomas McGlynn, chief executive of performance and value at Ray White Group, said changing interest rate expectations and economic conditions had continued to reshape the market through 2026. He said average open home attendance nationally was less than half what it was 12 months ago, and active bidder numbers remained well below last year’s levels. Even so, 65% of Ray White auction campaigns were still ending in a sale within 45 days, compared with 46% of private treaty campaigns.
Callum Hogan, head of performance at Ray White New South Wales, said interest rates and cost of living pressures were dominating buyer conversations. Some buyers had told agents that what they were prepared to pay three months ago had shifted by as much as 10% to 15% – a further sign of the gap that had kept deals from closing in late October.
Melbourne leads the auction clearance rate rebound
Melbourne drove the improvement. Auction numbers there rose on the previous week but remained less than half last year’s level, while the city’s preliminary clearance rate jumped almost 10 percentage points to 59.1% – its strongest result in eight weeks.
Lawless said Melbourne volumes had run well below last year’s levels since Victoria’s reserve price transparency rules came into effect in mid-October 2026.
Ray White’s Melbourne result was stronger still, at 67.4%. Luke Banitsiotis, chief auctioneer for Ray White Victoria and Tasmania, said buyers had not retreated but were waiting for genuine value. He pointed to a Seaford home that was passed in a month earlier, then sold under the hammer just above its reserve when it returned to auction.
Sydney eases while Brisbane remains the weakest capital
Sydney again hosted the most auctions, with volumes steady on the previous week but well down on a year earlier. Its preliminary clearance rate eased slightly to 52.3%, after last week’s early result was revised sharply lower once final figures came in. Ray White’s Sydney result was weaker, at 48.5%.
Hogan said agents were working in “a real two-speed market at the moment”, with well-priced homes still achieving strong results while vendors holding to ambitious price expectations were drawing a very different response – in some cases no bids at all.
Brisbane remained the weakest capital. Its preliminary clearance rate improved to 31.2% after two weeks in the mid-20s, but auction numbers fell on the week, and the Gold Coast cleared fewer than one in five of its auctions.
Adelaide had its busiest week of auctions since March 2026, though its clearance rate slipped to 43.5%. The Australian Capital Territory improved to 47.2% on volumes half last year’s level, while Perth and Tasmania recorded few auctions.
Cotality expects capital city auction volumes to rise to around 2,010 next week, which will test whether the improvement can hold as listings build towards the end of spring.
