Auction clearance rates fall — shifting power back to buyers
Auction clearance rates fell to 52.7% by the end of March 2026 across the combined capitals. That was the lowest since July 2022, and well below the decade average of 64%, according to the latest Cotality data.
Two consecutive Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hikes this year have squeezed borrowing capacity, cooling buyer competition and leaving more properties to pass in at auction.
This means that for buyers who have spent months on the sidelines watching properties sell unconditionally under the hammer, something has changed. When clearance rates fall, buyers have something they didn't have before: more time to get their mortgage properly structured and genuine room to negotiate on price.
The buyers who move quickly when market conditions shift in their favour are usually the ones who prepared their finance before the opportunity appeared, not after.
Conditions like this don’t last forever, so if you’ve been waiting to enter the property market, now might be a good time to speak to your mortgage broker about where you stand.
About the author – Alex Veljancevski is a Sydney Mortgage Broker with Eventus Financial, which assists first home buyers, investors, upgraders and borrowers seeking to refinance to a better deal on their home loan.