Current Status of the Australian Auction Market

After the seasonal slowdown, there’s a definite chance of things turning around now that it’s February. The market finally seems to be back on track to achieve great clearance rates across major capitals. 

Buyers and sellers seem active, and many private treaty sales have been recorded this weekend. All this leads to show that a very successful sales season is ready to unfold over the next couple of months.

That’s why we at Ham Kerr Properties are constantly navigating the property market and real estate selling strategies to understand its ongoing changes, so buyers and sellers are better informed and can refine their strategies to maximise results.

Stats by realestate.com.au released the official numbers for the period ending February 1st, they were listed as follows:

• 69% clearance for Victoria based on 565 auctions

• 58% clearance for New South Wales based on 513 auctions and 1,126 private sales

• 52% clearance for Queensland based on 365 auctions and 727 private sales

• 84% clearance for South Australia based on 133 auctions

• 83% clearance for Western Australia based on a small auction sample

• 65% clearance for Australian Capital Territory
• 1 auction result for Tasmania

Summary

• Auction activities are slowly falling back into track across the country.
• Private deals take a huge chunk of the rise in sales volume.
• Buyers are still interested in some market areas.
• Adelaide and the states with high clearance rates have a lot of potential buyers, resulting in tighter competition.

Market trends of Victoria and Melbourne

Auction market conditions: judging by the clearance rate, all areas of Victoria seemed to have interested buyers, even during the low season time, such as spring or early autumn.

Melbourne’s Central Business District did not record any auctions this weekend, just 12 private deals. This indicates that vendors can still get their inner-city properties sold through private negotiations, even though auctions have a low amount of sales.

Private deals update: over 1,000 private negotiations have been recorded in Victoria, without considering auctions. So both buyers and vendors still like to go ahead with private sales. This is almost always the case when it comes to families who’ve been around for a while, property owners, and investors buying properties.  

Importance of median value: according to Domain reports, the clearance rate for Melbourne as a whole was around 74%, with hundreds of auctions and thousands of sales happening to show how great a year 2026 will be.

Deeper dive on the auction results

The market in New South Wales seems active, but buyers are quite selective and prefer suburban properties listed at fair, affordable prices.

Queensland rates were derived as a result of varying performances from both Central Brisbane and coastal lifestyle areas.

South Australia takes the crown by a huge leap with the highest clearance rate, even when property prices have been increasing over the past couple of quarters. This proves that buyers are highly interested in South Australian properties, specifically Adelaide’s family housing and mid-range properties. 

Australian Capital Territory and Western Australian markets are steady for the most part, but do fluctuate from time to time. However, there’s definite buyer competition present when affordable, good properties are listed.

Regional Victoria insights

According to agent feedback and local listings, the following have been noted for the areas:

Geelong’s demand for both residential auctions and private deals has been strong, driven by lifestyle and affordability compared to inner Melbourne.

Ballarat continues to see steady demand from buyers residing both locally and out of state for single-family and family homes through auctions and private deals.

Bendigo’s auction activity remains moderate, as private deals and expressions of interest offset it. Hence, the regional engagement remains. 

Excluding metropolitan Melbourne, demand for these regional areas continues to grow, as buyers opt for regional amenities and value for money.

Market trends and notable deals

Apartments of the Central Business District and inner Melbourne had substantial demand at the end of January, and the prices showed how tight the demand of the small housing sector was. 

The high clearance rates of South and Western Australia suggest that there is high buyer competition in addition to areas within the East Coast. 

Brisbane and the Gold Coast are also very attractive locations for buyers. With high price point sales, the individual events were able to achieve very high clearance rates.

One of Nundah’s single-bedroom apartments rose to a price of $300,000, which was far greater than the valuation made back in 2023, showing that excellent micro-market conditions still exist.

Viewpoints of buyers and vendors

Buyers:

• They are interested, but very strategic with their purchasing tactics, showing strong bidding techniques when stock prices become clear and comparable.
• They are also very interested in off-market and exclusive sales, especially the inner metropolitan and investor-heavy areas garner their attention.

Vendors:

• When they listed their properties with realistic prices, they gained high buyer engagement and a few instances of pass-ins.
• Vendors from Adelaide and a couple of suburbs in Victoria thrive when they achieve successful transactions, due to high clearance rates, and the sales pipeline keeps moving.

This is why vendors must implement good real estate selling strategies, because when pricing, presentation, and responding to buyers’ interests are properly aligned, they see great engagement.

Overall factors

Property and market trends

• As the holiday season comes to a halt, the housing market across Australia seems to be getting stable in early 2026. The market is settling because the properties that were listed before are getting sold.
• Property prices are increasing, but not as quickly as they did in 2025. The fast price growth of last year is slowing down now. However, prices may increase across major capitals compared to last quarter due to seasonal patterns.

Price projections

• Due to housing supply constraints and residual interest rates, property rates will rise more slowly than they did in 2025, as indicated by leading property analysts within AMP.

Regional movements

• Even though it’s not in par with major eastern capitals, the Adelaide property game was quite strong as the house prices there kept increasing more than most of the other cities.

Drivers of demand

• As the population keeps increasing and house rentals are low in supply, demand remains steady. Furthermore, affordability constraints make it highly competitive for both low and high-priced properties.

Future prospects

4 – 6 weeks:

• Auction volumes are likely to keep increasing during this selling season.
• When quality, affordable properties in good locations are listed, clearance rates are likely to stabilise.
• Buyers should strategise their bidding methods by researching similar listings that have been sold in the past. They should also get their finances approved as quickly as possible.

Beyond Q1 2026:

• South Australia and regional Victoria, where the property markets are affordable and attract more buyers, are likely to outperform major capitals.
• Therefore, sellers should price their properties realistically and have solid marketing plans ready for when there is peak competition.

Applicable tips:

To reduce pass-ins and create competition, sellers should publish property price guides aligned with recent clearance results. 

Buyers should base their property research on bidding timelines on recent auction clearance and data on private negotiations.

Investors, on the other hand, should monitor markets with consistent demand from the locals and good clearance rates, for instance, Adelaide and a few areas in Queensland.

The housing market will continue to evolve throughout 2026; it’s safer and better for both buyers and vendors if they continue to go through recent data and opt for strong real estate selling strategies to secure opportunities even when the competition is high.

That’s why we are here at Ham Kerr Properties to guide vendors to position their homes strategically during peak competition days, and to help buyers select the best properties that speak to them.