The Australian property market is witnessing a fascinating tug-of-war as a robust wave of new property listings drives auction volumes significantly higher, even as buyer clearance rates begin to soften. Across the combined capital cities, the preliminary auction clearance rate has slipped to 66.6%, marking the lowest reading recorded so far this year. This soft outcome follows a sharp downward revision of the previous week’s final results, which bottomed out at 57.9%—the lowest clearance rate seen since mid-December.
According to the latest data, a staggering 2,871 homes across the capital cities were taken to auction last week. This represents a massive 58% jump in volume compared to the previous week—which was notably disrupted by long weekends in several states—and a 16% increase compared to the same week a year ago. Gerard Burg, Head of Research Australia at Cotality, notes that this continuing trend of strong listings activity is becoming increasingly apparent in the broader flow of new properties hitting the market.
Melbourne emerged as the nation’s undisputed leader for auction activity, with an impressive 1,389 homes going under the hammer. This represents a 144% surge from the prior week, which was impacted by the Labour Day long weekend. However, the influx of available stock appears to be cooling buyer urgency; Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate settled at 66.9%, representing the city’s lowest early result since late last year.
A similar story is unfolding in Sydney, where 1,000 auctions were held last week. This 6.2% week-on-week rise marked only the second time this year that Sydney’s auction volumes have reached the 1,000 threshold. Yet, Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate fell to 65.1%, its lowest point of the year and a sharp drop from the previous week. Brisbane also felt the shift, hosting 190 auctions only to record its softest outcome of the year with a 65.9% preliminary clearance rate. In Canberra, the clearance rate sank drastically to 55.4% across 118 auctions.
Despite the wider cooling trend across the eastern seaboard, Adelaide proved to be the shining exception. The South Australian capital hosted 155 auctions and aggressively bucked the weaker national trend, recording a booming preliminary clearance rate of 84.0%—its second-highest early result of the year.
Looking ahead, the market shows no signs of slowing its supply of homes. Approximately 2,900 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer this week, with auction volumes expected to ramp up to around 4,000 in the busy lead-up to the Easter holiday. With more properties flowing onto the market, buyers finally have the gift of choice, but sellers may need to carefully adjust their price expectations as clearance rates continue to fade.