The Reserve Bank’s latest interest rate hike has dealt a hammer blow to the property market.
After last week’s final national auction clearance plunged to only 45.4%, the softest result since 19 July 2026, this week’s results are not much better.
This weekend’s preliminary clearance rate was only 48.8%, a slight rise from last week (48.2%, revised down to 45.4% once finalised).
Source: Cotality
This was the second weekend in a row that the combined capital city preliminary clearance rate has stayed below 50%, returning to levels seen in mid-to-late June.
Melbourne hosted the highest volume of auctions this week, with 707 homes going under the hammer. This was a 6.2% rise on the prior week but 43.4% fewer auctions than the same week last year. The preliminary clearance rate was 54.8% across Melbourne, up 4.2 percentage points from a week ago (50.6%, which revised down to 50.4% once finalised). Over the first six weeks of spring, Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate averaged 45.5%, in line with the winter average of 45.4%.
Sydney saw 653 homes auctioned this weekend, more than double the week prior, which was impacted by a long weekend. Compared with a year ago, auction volume across Sydney was down 33.9%. The preliminary clearance rate was 52.9% across Sydney this week, down 2.8 percentage points from 55.7% a week ago (which revised down to 49.3% on final numbers), marking a 10-week low.
Brisbane saw a solid rise in auctions, with 201 homes taken to market, up 45.7% on last week’s long weekend and 58.3% more than the same week a year ago. However, higher volumes have weighed on the preliminary clearance rate, with only 21.4% of auctions reporting a successful result so far, the lowest reading since April 2020 amid the early stages of COVID-19.
The weak auction results continue to be reflected in home values, with Cotality’s daily dwelling values index recording a 6.9% decline from the early April peak across the five major capital city markets:
Given the latest rate hike from the Reserve Bank, alongside the federal budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains taxes, there is a lot more downside to come.
Overleveraged property owners are facing a brutal reality check.
