High volumes test buyer demand as clearance rates ease slightly
Auction activity surged across Australia’s combined capital cities last week, with 2,962 homes going under the hammer – marking the busiest week since before Easter and the second most active auction week of 2025 so far.
Preliminary figures from property analytics firm Cotality show the national clearance rate edged down to 70%, slightly below the previous week’s 71.3%, which was later revised to a final figure of 65.1%. Despite the decline, last week’s clearance rate remains among the strongest seen in nearly a year.
Melbourne was the most active market, hosting 1,547 auctions – the city’s highest weekly tally for the year. This surpassed the pre-Easter volume of 1,382 and was the busiest since late October 2024.
Early data indicates that 72.4% of homes sold at auction in Melbourne last week, marginally down from 73.7% previously, which was revised to 66.0%. It marked the fifth week in a row that Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate stayed above 70%.
Sydney followed with 1,062 auctions, its third highest count for the year. The preliminary clearance rate in the New South Wales capital came in at 69.9%, down from 72.2% the prior week, which finalised at 67.3% – Sydney’s strongest result since August 2024.
Among the smaller capitals, Brisbane recorded the most activity, with 153 properties auctioned and 64.9% reported sold, Cotality reported. Adelaide held 115 auctions, but its clearance rate dropped to 55.4% — its weakest since November 2020. The ACT reported a preliminary clearance rate of 56.1% from 73 auctions, down from 61.1% a week earlier, though final figures may bring a slight improvement.
“The number of auctions held is set to reduce over the coming weeks, more than halving this week to around 1,330 due to the King’s Birthday long weekend in many states, before rising back to around 2,000 next week,” said Caitlin Fono, research analyst at Cotality.
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
