The relentless pace of the Australian property market is taking a brief, albeit temporary, pause this week. Following a remarkably busy period for real estate, nationwide auction activity is scheduled to cool significantly as vendors and buyers in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT head into a public holiday long weekend.

Across the combined capital cities, a total of 1,919 homes are currently scheduled to go under the auctioneer’s hammer this week. This represents a sharp drop from the robust 3,336 auctions held last week, which notably marked the busiest week for the market since late November of last year. However, despite this holiday-induced dip, current market confidence remains measurably higher than in the previous year. This week’s scheduled volumes are up 22.1% compared to the 1,572 auctions held during the exact same time last year.

With Melbourne largely offline for the holiday festivities, Sydney is poised to easily claim the lion’s share of the nation’s auction activity. The New South Wales capital is scheduled to host 1,066 auctions this week. While this represents a modest 7.9% decrease from the 1,157 auctions held there last week, it reflects a striking 26.6% surge compared to the same period last year. Industry data suggests this strong vendor presence in Sydney is not a fleeting trend, with over 1,000 homes already scheduled for each of the subsequent two weeks.

In stark contrast, Melbourne’s auction market will experience a substantial quiet period. Only 547 homes are scheduled for the block, equating to a massive 68.2% drop from last week’s impressive 1,720 auctions. However, even this dampened figure sits 12.6% higher than the same week last year, and experts anticipate a vigorous rebound next week as Melbourne vendors confidently return to the fray.

The smaller capital cities are also reflecting the varied impacts of the upcoming long weekend. Brisbane leads the smaller markets with 126 scheduled auctions, followed closely by Adelaide with 108, and Canberra with 56. Perth will see a modest 13 auctions, while Tasmania has cleared its schedule entirely, recording zero upcoming auctions for the weekend.

This temporary lull provides analysts and investors a moment to digest last week’s massive clearance results. Despite the high volume of available stock, the combined capital city clearance rate has continued its gradual downward trajectory, softening to 60.9% from 62.0% the week prior and 62.6% at the same time last year. Sydney’s clearance rate declined to 59.8%, continuing a downward trend since early February, while Melbourne’s clearance rate managed to edge slightly higher to 60.5%. Meanwhile, Adelaide remained the strongest performing market in the country, securing a robust 71.6% clearance rate.

For buyers and sellers alike, this weekend represents a brief calm before the storm. The long weekend breather will be short-lived, as next week is already expected to see a massive rebound in activity, with 2,923 homes set to go under the hammer nationwide.