Capital city auction clearance rates eased in the week ending 30 August 2026, according to Cotality's latest Preliminary Auction Summary.
Combined capital city results came in at 52.4%, down from 56.5% the previous week, based on preliminary figures collected from 1,153 of the 1,482 auctions held. Last week's rate has now been finalised at 48.9%, continuing a pattern where preliminary results are typically revised down once all outcomes are collected. The combined rate also sits well below the 70% cleared at the same time last year, underlining how much softer conditions are than a year ago.
Melbourne's own clearance rate has now eased for a third consecutive week, coming in at 54.9% — also a sharp step down from the 70.9% recorded the same week last year. The softer figures follow a brief improvement through mid-August, when preliminary clearance rates pushed above 55%.
Cotality head of research Tim Lawless (pictured) linked the pullback to a widening gap between listings and buyer demand heading into spring.
"While activity is beginning to rise into the spring selling season, buyer demand remains measured, with the rise in available stock placing renewed downwards pressure on clearance rates," Lawless wrote.
A total of 1,482 capital city homes went to auction this week, up 16.1% on the previous week's 1,276, but still 28.3% below the 2,066 auctions held at the same time last year. Sydney (516 auctions, 56.3% clearance) and Melbourne (653 auctions, 54.9% clearance) accounted for the bulk of activity, while Brisbane recorded the weakest major-market result at just 31.5%, its lowest clearance rate since early July and well down from 62.5% a year ago.
Median auction prices varied sharply by city. Sydney recorded the highest median at $1,530,000, followed by Brisbane at $1,110,000 and Melbourne at $990,000, while unit results in Sydney outperformed houses, clearing at 67.9% against 52.0% for houses.
Across the combined capitals, 257 properties sold prior to auction day and 343 sold under the hammer, while 268 were passed in and 274 withdrawn. Sydney had the highest share of pre-auction sales relative to its total, with 134 of its 516 listings selling before auction day.
That divergence sits inside a broader shift toward buyer's market conditions — buyers across most capitals now have significantly more properties to choose from than a year ago, with reduced investor activity following the budget's tax changes reportedly extending selling times and improving conditions for first-home buyers in some markets.
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