Powerful start to 2026 Property Auction clearance
Powerful start to 2026 Property Auction clearance
The start of the 2026 auction season has been surprisingly strong, with the preliminary clearance rate rebounding from the low 60% range in mid-December to last week’s result of 73.7%, the highest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending October 19 last year.
The bounce back was stronger than the previous week, where the preliminary clearance rate came in at 69.7%, revising down to 66.4% once finalised.
The result has been on the back of a softening in auction volume, with 1,593 homes going under the hammer last week, down 0.6% from the 1,603 auctions held a week earlier and 4.6% lower than the same week a year ago.
Much of the strength in clearance rates came from Sydney, which delivered a 79.6% early result, the highest preliminary outcome since the last week of August 2025 (80.3%). The strong result came with a 31% uplift in volume, with 602 homes taken to auction.
Melbourne recorded a higher volume than Sydney, with 638 homes taken to auction last week, but a lower preliminary clearance rate. 67.9% of Melbourne auctions have reported a successful result so far, down from 69.3% the week prior, which revised back to 63.7% on final numbers.
Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane recorded the most auctions, with 131 homes going under the hammer last week. A preliminary clearance rate of 69.0% was recorded, down from 75.0% the week prior (71.8% once finalised).
Adelaide returned another 80%+ preliminary clearance rate last week, a softer result week-on-week at 83.6% (down from 86.1%) across 117 auctions.
There were 92 auctions held across the ACT last week, down 31% from the previous week, with the preliminary clearance rate bouncing higher to 69.7% from a very low 39.8% the week prior.
Last week saw 12 auctions held in Perth with 75% reporting a positive result so far.
There was only one auction in Tasmania last week, which was passed in.
We are expecting around 2,050 auctions to be held across the combined capitals this week, rising to approximately 2,800 next week.
Source: Cotality