Brisbane's 51.9 per cent early result settles at 35.9 per cent

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Brisbane's final auction clearance rate for the week ending Sunday 16 August was 35.9 per cent, Cotality reported in the final clearance rates release it published on Thursday 20 August. Three days earlier, the firm's preliminary count for the same week had shown 51.9 per cent, the city's best early result in 13 weeks.

The 16-point difference between the two is the widest gap Brisbane has shown this month. It does not mean either figure was wrong. They measure the same week at two different stages of counting.

From Monday's number to Thursday's

The preliminary figure rested on 79 reported results, 41 of them sales, out of what Cotality then counted as 145 auctions. The final release puts the week at 142 auctions, with 51 recorded as cleared and 91 as uncleared.

Put side by side, the two counts show that the 63 results added after Monday contained ten sales. That is arithmetic from Cotality's two sets of published figures, not a number the firm states. It means about one in six of the late results was a sale, against more than one in two of the early ones. The auctions reported first were far more likely to have sold than those reported later.

That is a familiar pattern in auction reporting. Under Cotality's published method, a clearance rate compares the known sales, whether made before, at or after the auction, with all known results, including auctions that were passed in or withdrawn. This month's Brisbane figures are consistent with sales reaching the data sooner than auctions that were passed in or withdrawn.

The same thing happened in the two earlier weeks of August, on a smaller scale. Brisbane's preliminary 42.0 per cent for the week ending 2 August became a final 37.5 per cent, and its preliminary 38.1 per cent for the week ending 9 August became 35.4 per cent. Those revisions were 4.5 and 2.7 points.

What set the third week apart was how little had been reported by the Monday. In the two earlier weeks about three in four Brisbane auctions were in the early count. In the week ending 16 August it was 79 of 145, a little over half. The less of the week the first figure covers, the further the final one can sit from it.

July's record points the same way. In three of that month's four weeks Brisbane's early and final rates were within a point of each other, and in the last two of them roughly four in five auctions had reported by the Monday. The exception was the week ending 12 July, when results were in for 86 of 128 auctions and an early 43.0 per cent finished at 35.4 per cent.

Cotality says that on average it collects 99 per cent of auction results each week, which is why its Thursday figure is the one to set beside earlier weeks. It publishes a rate only where at least ten results are held.

A preliminary rate answers a narrow question: of the auctions heard from so far, how many sold?

Every capital was revised, Brisbane most

Brisbane was not alone in losing ground between Monday and Thursday. Setting Cotality's preliminary rates of 17 August beside its final rates of 20 August shows a downward revision in each of the five capitals with a published rate.

The order follows the early coverage closely. Brisbane and Adelaide, the two cities where only about half of the auctions had reported on the Monday, were revised most: Adelaide from 61.9 per cent to 51.2 per cent. Melbourne, where about four in five auctions had reported, moved least, from 57.4 per cent to 52.9 per cent. Sydney went from 55.6 per cent to 47.1 per cent and Canberra from 60.0 per cent to 53.5 per cent.

Across the combined capitals, Monday's preliminary figure had been 56.5 per cent and the final is 48.9 per cent, a revision of 7.6 points, less than half the size of Brisbane's.

A steadier week than it first looked

Measured final against final, Brisbane barely moved. Its 35.9 per cent was half a point above the 35.4 per cent of the week before, which Cotality described as relatively stable. The firm also noted that Brisbane's rate remained the weakest among the larger markets.

The number of sales tells the same story. The 51 Brisbane auctions cleared last week compare with about 57 the week before, when the city held 161 auctions, 19 more than last week's 142. Fewer homes were offered and a very slightly larger share of them sold.

The national figure went the other way. The weighted average final clearance rate of 48.9 per cent was down 2.5 points from the previous week's 51.4 per cent, which had been a 12-week high. Cotality counted 1,276 auctions across the capitals, 7.7 per cent fewer than the 1,382 of the week before and 33.6 per cent fewer than the 1,921 held in the same week last year. Of the 1,276, 624 were recorded as cleared.

Canberra recorded the highest final rate of any capital at 53.5 per cent, from 43 auctions. Melbourne finalised at 52.9 per cent from 588 auctions and Sydney at 47.1 per cent from 410. Adelaide, at 51.2 per cent from 84, was the third capital above half.

What Cotality says is holding rates down

The firm set the results against a year-ago national rate of 69.8 per cent, 20.9 points higher than last week's. Its comparison for the two largest cities is just as wide. Melbourne held 932 auctions in the same week of 2025 and cleared 69.1 per cent of them. Sydney held 705 and cleared 71.7 per cent.

Cotality listed the conditions it sees behind the softer market: a cash rate held at 4.35 per cent, constrained borrowing capacity, national dwelling values that have fallen in recent months, stretched affordability and subdued buyer demand. Each of those bears on how much a bidder can offer on the day, and none of them is specific to Queensland.

Brisbane's position is unusual on one point. It is the weakest of the larger markets on the clearance rate, and its sellers have nonetheless kept the auction calendar close to last winter's. Cotality's earlier releases this month had Brisbane ahead of the same weeks of 2025 on volume while Melbourne and Sydney ran far behind.

The coasts tell two different stories

Cotality's sub-region summary shows how unevenly the revision fell in Queensland.

On the Gold Coast, the final count was 63 auctions with 21 sold, a clearance rate of 33.3 per cent. The preliminary rate on Monday had been 46.2 per cent, from 18 sales among 39 reported results. The 24 results added afterwards held three sales. The Gold Coast's revision, at 12.9 points, was nearly as large as Brisbane's, and its final rate is only two points above the 31.3 per cent of the week before.

On the Sunshine Coast, 18 of 35 auctions sold, a final rate of 51.4 per cent. Monday's early figure was 52.4 per cent, from 11 sales among 21 results. Here the 14 late results split evenly, seven sold and seven not. A one-point revision is unusual in a market this small, and it made the Sunshine Coast the one Queensland market Cotality reports on where more than half of the week's auctions ended in a sale. A week earlier it had cleared 5 of 20. With 35 auctions, it remains a single week's result.

The week ending 23 August

For the week ending 23 August, Cotality has 153 auctions scheduled in Brisbane, 7.7 per cent more than the 142 held last week. Across the capitals, 1,416 homes are scheduled, 11.0 per cent more than last week and 31.5 per cent fewer than the 2,066 auctions of the same week a year ago.

The firm's preview locates the annual shortfall in two cities. Melbourne has 565 auctions scheduled against 985 a year ago, which is 420 fewer, and Sydney has 526 against 729, which is 203 fewer. About 1,125 of the week's auctions, close to four in five, are booked for the Saturday.

Further out, Cotality expects about 1,550 auctions in the week ending 30 August and about 1,300 in the week ending 6 September. Its preliminary results for the week ending 23 August are due on Monday 24 August. On this month's evidence, the share of Brisbane auctions already reported will say a good deal about how much weight that first number can bear.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →