Are Fewer Properties Actually Selling? Auction Clearance Rates and Days on Market in 2026
Prices are one part of the story. The other part is whether homes are actually selling. Auction clearance rates have fallen from 66.9% a year ago to 46.7% now, auction volumes are down 11.5% on last year, and properties are taking noticeably longer to find a buyer. Here is the full transaction data.
Are fewer properties selling in Australia in 2026?
Yes, on every measure of transaction activity. The national auction clearance rate has fallen to 46.7% in the most recent week, down from 51.8% the week before and 66.9% in the same week a year earlier. Auction volumes are down 11.5% year on year. Nationally, the median time to sell a property has risen to 35 days, up from 32 days the previous month, with Sydney (34 days) and Melbourne (39 days) taking the longest while Perth (9 days) and Brisbane (20 days) are still selling comparatively quickly.
Key Takeaways
- 1The national auction clearance rate fell to 46.7% in the most recent week, down from 51.8% the week before and 66.9% in the same week a year ago.
- 21,257 auctions were held in the week ending 2 August 2026, down 11.5% on the 1,587 held in the same week of 2025.
- 3The national median time to sell rose to 35 days, up from 32 days the previous month.
- 4Perth (9 days) and Brisbane (20 days) are still selling fast, while Sydney (34 days) and Melbourne (39 days) are taking much longer.
- 5The share of vendors choosing auction over private treaty has dropped from almost 45% of new listings in November 2025 to just over 30% in June 2026.
- 6Around 166,000 residential property transfers were recorded nationally in FY2024-25, with the aggregate value of settled property reaching $726.6 billion.
Clearance Rates Have Collapsed Year on Year
The auction clearance rate, the share of properties taken to auction that actually sell under the hammer or shortly after, is one of the most immediate signals of buyer demand. A year ago, in the same week of 2025, the national clearance rate sat at 66.9%. Two weeks ago it had fallen to 51.8%. In the most recent week it fell further still, to 46.7%.
National Auction Clearance Rate
Same week comparison, year on year and recent weeks
A clearance rate below 50% has historically pointed to sustained price softness rather than a temporary lull, consistent with the price falls already recorded through July.
The 20-percentage-point fall from a year ago is a significant deterioration in buyer competition. Fewer bidders at auction generally means vendors accept lower prices, or the property fails to sell at all and is passed in or withdrawn.
Fewer Auctions Being Held at All
It is not just that fewer auctions are succeeding, fewer are being held in the first place. The week ending 2 August 2026 saw 1,257 auctions nationally, down 11.5% on the 1,587 held in the equivalent week of 2025. Auction volumes are also well below the autumn 2026 peak of nearly 4,000 in a single week, a normal seasonal pattern, but the year-on-year decline points to genuinely softer vendor activity, not just seasonality.
Vendors are also increasingly choosing not to go to auction at all. The share of new listings taken to auction has fallen from almost 45% at its November 2025 peak to just over 30% by June 2026, as sellers shift toward private treaty campaigns to avoid the risk of a public auction that fails to attract bidders.
Homes Are Taking Longer to Sell, But Not Everywhere
The median time to sell a property nationally rose to 35 days, up from 32 days the previous month. That national figure hides a sharp divide between cities that lines up closely with the price data covered in our companion article: the same cities recording the steepest price falls are also taking the longest to sell.
Median Days on Market by City
Time from listing to sale, 2026
Perth and Brisbane, the two cities still recording price growth or the mildest falls, are also selling fastest. Sydney and Melbourne, the two steepest price falls, are taking the longest.
Perth's 9-day median and Brisbane's 20-day median reflect markets where buyer demand is still comfortably absorbing new listings. Sydney at 34 days and Melbourne at 39 days point to a genuine buildup of unsold stock, giving buyers considerably more time and leverage to negotiate than they had a year ago.
The Bigger Picture: Settlement Volumes
Zooming out from weekly auction snapshots, roughly 166,000 residential property transfers were recorded nationally in the 2024-25 financial year, with the aggregate value of settled property reaching approximately $726.6 billion, up 9.4% year on year. Notably, that value growth has outpaced volume growth, meaning the total dollar figure is being driven more by rising average prices earlier in the year than by a rising number of actual transactions.
Read alongside the auction data above, a consistent picture emerges: the number of properties changing hands is growing far more slowly than the value of the market, and the weekly auction figures suggest that growth in transaction numbers has since stalled entirely.
What This Means If You Are Buying or Selling
Falling clearance rates and longer days on market mean less competition and more room to negotiate, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. A property sitting at 30+ days is a genuine opportunity to negotiate on price rather than bid at auction.
Consider a private treaty campaign over auction if your local clearance rate is below 50%, and price realistically from day one. Vendors chasing last year's prices are the ones most likely to end up sitting on the market for 30, 40, or more days.
For a full breakdown of what is happening to prices city by city, see our companion article on property prices in August 2026.
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Raj Bhangu
Principal Mortgage Broker, iSmart Finance Group
Raj Bhangu is the principal broker at iSmart Finance Group, specialising in investment property finance and helping clients navigate changing market and regulatory conditions across Sydney and beyond.
Sources & References
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