Melbourne drives the jump; clearance rates have softened across the capitals
Auction activity across Australia’s capital cities is expected to rise this week after a public holiday period reduced volumes in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
Cotality data shows about 2,900 homes are currently scheduled for auction across the capitals, up from 1,815 last week. That is 18.1% higher than the same week last year, when 2,472 properties were listed for auction.
“The strong activity is tipped to continue into next week, with 2,887 homes currently scheduled for auction,” said Gerard Burg, head of research at Cotality.
Melbourne is the main contributor to the week-on-week increase. Around 1,317 homes are due to go to auction, compared with 570 last week. That is about 11.4% higher than the corresponding week a year ago. Volumes are expected to remain steady next week before rising again in the final week of the month, with close to 1,700 auctions currently indicated.
Sydney is set for a smaller lift, with 1,090 properties scheduled. That compares with 942 last week and is 22.3% above the same time last year, when 893 homes were listed.
Among the smaller capitals, Brisbane is forecast to lead with 197 auctions, up from 125 the previous week. Adelaide is also higher at 153, compared with 107 last week. Canberra is expected to recover from the holiday-affected period, with 126 auctions scheduled, up from 56. Perth is largely unchanged at 13 auctions versus 14 last week, while Tasmania has one auction currently listed.
Source: Cotality
Last week’s results reflected the interrupted trading week. Across the capitals, 1,815 properties went to auction, down from 3,336 the week prior, but above the 1,572 recorded a year earlier.
“The combined capital city clearance rate has continued to decline, down to 57.9% last week, compared with 60.9% the week prior and 62.3% this time last year, albeit it is a little stronger than the latter weeks of December 2025,” Burg (pictured right) said.
Sydney recorded the largest volume last week, with 942 auctions, down from 1,157 the week before. Its clearance rate fell to 58.6%, sitting below 60% for a second consecutive week.
Melbourne held 570 auctions, compared with 1,720 the prior week. The city’s clearance rate slipped to 52.6%, from 60.5% the week before and the same period last year. Cotality noted this was Melbourne’s lowest clearance rate since January 2024.
Elsewhere, Brisbane had 125 auctions (down from 177), Adelaide recorded 107 (down from 134), and Canberra logged 55 (down from 131). Perth held 14 auctions and Tasmania recorded none.
Clearance rates across the smaller capitals were mixed. Adelaide posted the highest at 72.9%, slightly above 71.6% the week prior. Brisbane edged down to 63.2% from 63.8%. Canberra fell to 52.6%. Perth’s clearance rate dipped to 64.3% on limited volume.
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