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Data analysis company Cotality found that the weighted average clearance rate was 2.9 percentage points lower than the previous week, when it sat at 43.6 per cent, and more than 25 percentage points lower than the same week last year, when the rate was 65.8 per cent.
This marked the seventh consecutive week in which the weighted average clearance rate remained below 50 per cent.
The rate last exceeded 60 per cent in early March 2026, when it reached 60.9 per cent, and is now 25.7 percentage points below this year’s high of 66.4 per cent.
Auction volumes also declined, with the combined capitals holding 1,713 auctions, 8.4 per cent fewer than the 1,871 held the previous week and 18.8 per cent fewer than the 2,109 held in the same week last year.
The weak result was posted as interest rates went up to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent, contributing to an almost 20 per cent drop in mortgage demand, according to credit reporting bureau Equifax.
Sydney leads as Brisbane clearance rate falls below 25 per cent
Sydney recorded the highest clearance rate among the capitals last week at 45.1 per cent, an improvement on the previous week’s 41.7 per cent.
The city held 710 auctions, 14 per cent more than the 623 held the previous week, making it the largest auction market last week. However, volumes remained 35.1 per cent below the 1,094 auctions held a year earlier.
Melbourne’s clearance rate fell 5.9 percentage points to 44.3 per cent from 50.2 per cent.
The city held 517 auctions, 37.8 per cent fewer than the 831 held the previous week, although volumes were 3.0 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Clearance rates remained subdued across the smaller capital cities, even as auction volumes rose.
Adelaide’s clearance rate was broadly steady at 35.4 per cent, compared with 35.3 per cent the previous week, but remained well below the 77.1 per cent recorded a year earlier.
Brisbane continued to experience weak selling conditions, recording the lowest clearance rate of any capital at 23.8 per cent, down 2.5 percentage points from 26.3 per cent.
Clearance rates in Brisbane have remained below 30 per cent for five consecutive weeks and below 40 per cent since late May 2026.
Auction volumes in the city edged 19.1 per cent higher to 237 from 199 the previous week.
Canberra’s clearance rate also declined, falling 6.4 percentage points to 40.3 per cent from 46.7 per cent. The city held 78 auctions, 30 per cent more than the 60 held the previous week.
House prices sink
The soft clearance rates are also accompanied by slumping house prices.
Despite spring typically being the busiest selling season of the year, Cotality also recently revealed that national median home values dropped 1.2 per cent in October – higher than the 1.1 per cent in September – dragging the housing downturn into its seventh consecutive month.
Values across Australia are now 6.7 per cent below their March peak, wiping roughly $63,400 off the median Australian dwelling value.
This drop in values has, however, done little to make it easier to afford a home, with higher borrowing costs eating into potential gains.
Despite the deposit needed to buy a home reduced by around $16,000, research from property platform Domain found that estimated monthly mortgage repayments have dropped by just $10 a month, or 0.2 per cent, from $6,073 to $6,063 (assuming an 80 per cent LVR and 30 year P&I loan).
This has particularly hit first home buyers (FHB) who have stepped back from the market even more so than other borrower segments.
Equifax found that mortgage demand among FHBs plunged 22.1 per cent nationally in September compared with the same month last year; a steeper decline than overall mortgage demand, which fell 19.2 per cent over the same period.
[Related: Borrowing capacity squeezed as housing affordability hits record low]
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