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More homes failed to sell at auction than sold across Australia's capital cities over the weekend, according to preliminary Cotality data. Of the 1,208 measured auctions, 619 did not sell and 589 did, which put the combined clearance rate at 48.8%.
The weekend was the first since all four major banks began passing on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) September rate rise in full to variable home loan customers from October 9. The 25 basis point increase on September 29 lifted the cash rate to 4.60%, the fourth hike of 2026.
The combined rate has now held below 50% for a second consecutive weekend. The week before, the preliminary result was 48.2%, the lowest level since June, and higher interest rates are expected to be contributing to the weaker sales results.
Cotality's final figures later put the combined clearance rate for that week at 45.4%, the lowest final result since July 19. The final result was 22.0 percentage points below the 67.4% recorded in the same week of 2025.
Cotality economist Annabelle Mezieres said the cash rate increase likely played a part in that weaker result, with prospective buyers facing reduced borrowing capacity and subdued confidence.
A total of 1,781 auctions were held across the combined capitals over the weekend. Cotality had recorded results for 1,208 of these by 1:04pm AEDT on Sunday, and 573 outcomes were yet to be captured.
On the preliminary count, unsold auctions outnumbered sales by 30.
Brisbane recorded the lowest clearance rate of the capitals at 21.4% from 145 results. Based on these figures, about 31 of the city's measured auctions sold, while about 114 did not.
The result matched Brisbane's preliminary reading from early May 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19, according to Cotality figures.
The city held 201 auctions over the weekend, up 45.7% on the previous long weekend and 58.3% higher than a year earlier.
Brisbane also recorded the sharpest monthly fall in home values among the capitals in September, at 1.5%, according to Cotality's Home Value Index. National values fell 1.1% over the month, the sixth consecutive monthly decline.
Perth had the next-lowest result at 28.6%, and Canberra came in at 36.4%. Adelaide recorded a clearance rate of 46.8%.
In the week ending October 4, Brisbane's final clearance rate was 44.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier, while Perth's was 39.4 percentage points lower.
Melbourne posted the highest preliminary clearance rate among the capitals reported, at 54.8% from 502 measured auctions. Sydney recorded 52.9% from 431 results, with 228 properties selling under the hammer, while 203 did not sell.
Sydney's result was 2.8 percentage points below the previous week's 55.7% and the city's lowest in 10 weeks. The earlier Sydney figure was revised to 49.3% on final numbers.
Sydney and Melbourne were the only two capitals above 50% in the preliminary results. The difference between Melbourne's 54.8% and Brisbane's 21.4% came to 33.4 percentage points.
Outside the major banks, Macquarie Bank will lift its variable home loan reference rates by 0.25% from October 15. Teachers Mutual Bank's five brands will move their variable rates from October 8.
Finance Brokers Association of Australia chief executive Leo Gagic has encouraged brokers to contact clients proactively, particularly those already finding repayments difficult, and pointed to "the vital role brokers play during times like these".
