This high volume represents a substantial surge in activity, marking an increase of 32.3% on the previous week’s total. This sharp rise in listings is largely attributable to the return to normal trading conditions following a period of suppressed activity due to public holidays. Last week (ending October 5, 2025), auction activity was impacted by public holidays observed in four of the eight states and territories, resulting in 1,958 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals.

Distribution Across Major Capitals

The majority of the auction activity is concentrated in the two largest capital cities, Melbourne and Sydney, which together account for over 2,200 scheduled auctions.

Melbourne is set to lead the country in volume, with 1,172 homes scheduled to go under the hammer. While this is the largest individual capital city contribution, it represents only a marginal week-on-week increase of just 0.7% from the 1,164 auctions held last week. For historical context, 1,091 auctions were held across Melbourne during the same week last year. The previous week’s volume in Melbourne was 1,164, while the week prior to that saw a particularly low volume of just 224 auctions due to the AFL Grand Final long weekend.

Sydney is scheduled to see 1,055 auctions this week. This represents a massive rebound from the prior week when only 511 homes were taken to auction. The previous week’s significantly lower volume in Sydney was attributed to the Labour Day long weekend, making it the quietest auction week since the week following Easter (which saw 399 auctions). For comparison, 1,018 auctions were held in Sydney during the same week last year.

Activity in Smaller Capital Cities

Among the smaller capital cities, Brisbane is set to be the busiest auction market, scheduling 131 homes this week. Interestingly, Brisbane’s volume is slightly down from the 148 auctions held last week.

Other capitals are seeing increases following the public holiday disruptions:

• Canberra has 109 auctions scheduled this week, up from 57 last week.

• Adelaide is scheduling 104 auctions, up from 65 last week.

• Perth has 17 auctions scheduled, up from 13 last week.

• Tasmania has three auctions scheduled this week, following two consecutive weeks of inactivity.

Looking ahead, auction activity is projected to climb even higher. The total volume of scheduled auctions across the combined capitals for the following week is set to increase further, with approximately 2,670 homes currently scheduled to go under the hammer.