Australia's housing auction market cooled in the week ended May 31 as the overall preliminary clearance rate for capital cities hit a new cyclical low, Cotality said in a Monday report.
The combined capitals preliminary clearance rate for the week eased to 54.5% from 58.2% in the prior week, marking the lowest reading recorded since April 2020, the data and analytics firm said.
Sydney's preliminary clearance rate fell to 51.8% from nearly 57% in the prior week, while Melbourne's declined to just above 58% from 60.2%. Melbourne had the largest share of activity, accounting for 1,264 of the total 2,681 homes taken to auction in the week through May 31.
The figure for Sydney represents the city's second-weakest preliminary result so far in 2026, behind only the 49.2% recorded during the week of the federal budget release. Excluding that result, Sydney's clearance rate has not been this low since April 2020.
"The combination of rising volumes and falling preliminary clearance rates points to a sizeable shift in the demand-supply balance across the country since last spring, with demand facing the headwinds of affordability constraints, three interest rate rises and the deterioration in consumer sentiment, not to mention the policy changes in the federal budget that will discourage investor purchases of existing properties," Cotality said.