Melbourne and Sydney lead a broad slowdown in winter auction activity
The combined capital city auction clearance rate held below 50% for a sixth consecutive week, finishing at 46% in the past week, according to Cotality data.
The reading was up one percentage point on the 45% recorded the previous week, but volumes fell sharply. A total of 1,443 auctions were held across the capitals, down 17.4% on the 1,748 held a week earlier and 19.6% fewer than the 1,794 held in the same week last year. Most of the decline came from Melbourne and Sydney, which together account for around four in five of all capital city auctions.
Roughly 540 properties were passed in and an estimated 230 were withdrawn from sale across the combined capitals. Sydney recorded around 120 withdrawals, while Melbourne had 219 properties passed in.
“The weakness in clearance rates is not just a one-week story,” said Annabelle Mezieres, economist at Cotality. “The four-week average, which smooths out the weekly ups and downs, has dropped sharply since the start of 2026 and is now near its lowest in years.”
Melbourne recorded 583 auctions, down 27.8% on the previous week and 24.0% fewer than the same week last year. Its clearance rate finished at 49.6%, up 3.0 percentage points. Sydney held 556 auctions, down 11.9% week-on-week and 18.8% below the year-earlier figure, with a clearance rate of 46.4%, an increase of 3.3 percentage points. Both cities improved slightly on the previous week but remained well short of year-ago levels.
Among the smaller capitals, Brisbane recorded the weakest result. Its clearance rate finished at 23.5%, the lowest reading since late April 2020. Of the 119 homes taken to auction, 77 were passed in.
“Auctions tend to make up a small share of Brisbane’s property market, so the clearance rate reflects only part of the market rather than the city,” Mezieres said. “What it does suggest is that among those choosing to auction, buyers and vendors are a long way apart on price.”
Adelaide’s clearance rate eased 7.9 percentage points to 45.5% from around 110 auctions. Canberra was the standout performer, lifting 11.1 percentage points to 52.4% from 63 auctions, the only capital to finish above the 50% mark. Perth held 10 auctions with a 44.4% clearance rate, while no auctions were recorded in Tasmania.
Auction activity typically slows during the mid-winter months of June and July before picking up again in spring. This year's slowdown, however, is more pronounced than usual. The 46.0% clearance rate sits 21.9 percentage points below the 67.9% recorded in the same week of 2025, with volumes close to a fifth lower than a year earlier.
Auction volumes set to ease again this week
An estimated 1,358 homes are scheduled for auction across the combined capitals this week, down 5.9% on last week's 1,443 and 5.2% below the 1,432 held in the same week last year. It marks a second consecutive week of falling volumes.
Melbourne again leads with 572 scheduled auctions, down 1.9% on last week and 8.9% below the 628 recorded in the same week of 2025. Sydney follows with 498 scheduled auctions, down 10.4% on both the previous week and the year-earlier figure, each of which stood at 556.
Not all markets are slowing. Brisbane has 133 auctions scheduled, up 11.8% on last week's 119 and 30.4% above the 102 recorded a year ago. Adelaide has 85 scheduled auctions, down 24.1% on last week's 112 but still 13.3% above the 75 held in the same week last year. Canberra is unchanged from a year ago at 60 auctions, easing 4.8% on last week's 63. Perth has 8 scheduled auctions, down from 10 last week and 9 a year ago, while Tasmania has two scheduled, up from none last week and matching year-ago levels.
Cotality estimates around 1,300 auctions will be held next week, with roughly 1,200 scheduled for the week after.
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