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Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →Brisbane's spring selling season has started quietly. Cotality's preliminary auction results for the week ending 6 September, published on Monday 7 September, show 133 homes going under the hammer across the city and an early clearance rate of 24.8 per cent. The research firm describes that as Brisbane's second-lowest preliminary result of the year so far, behind only a 23.8 per cent reading earlier in 2026.
The national picture was steadier. Across the combined capital cities, Cotality counted 1,462 auctions and a preliminary clearance rate of 52.7 per cent. Volumes were level with the week before and 31.1 per cent lower than in the first week of spring last year.
Cotality, Property Market Indicator Summary, week ending 6 September 2026. Preliminary results, published 7 September.
What the first count shows for Brisbane
A preliminary clearance rate is built from the results agents have reported by the time the figures are compiled, not from every auction held. Cotality's summary table shows it had collected 101 Brisbane results from the 133 auctions, or about three in four. Of those 101, 25 were recorded as sold and 76 as not sold, which is where the 24.8 per cent comes from. The other 32 results were still to be reported.
The number of auctions was itself lower than the week before. Cotality says the 133 Brisbane auctions were 8.9 per cent fewer than the previous week and 7.6 per cent below the same week last year. The figure matches what the firm had pencilled in: its preview of 3 September listed 133 Brisbane auctions as scheduled, against 144 held in the equivalent week of 2025.
The early figure also continues a slide through the end of winter. Brisbane's preliminary rate was 40.4 per cent in the week ending 23 August and 31.5 per cent in the week ending 30 August, according to Cotality's summary for that second week. Three readings in a row have each been lower than the one before, by 8.9 points and then by 6.7 points.
Related readHow auction clearance rates are counted, and why two sources disagreeNone of this says anything about an individual home. A clearance rate describes the results known when the table is compiled, and a property that passes in can still be sold afterwards by negotiation. A sale agreed after the count has closed is not part of the figure.
How the last two weeks settled
The Monday figure is a first reading, and the last fortnight shows how far it can move. For the week ending 23 August, Brisbane's preliminary 40.4 per cent became a final rate of 32.7 per cent across 151 auctions, according to Cotality's finalised results. For the week ending 30 August, the early 31.5 per cent, built on 29 sales among 92 reported results, finalised at 27.4 per cent across 146 auctions. That final figure was published on Thursday 3 September and was the weakest of any capital.
In both weeks the final rate was lower than the first one, by 7.7 points and then by 4.1 points. The reason is mechanical. Auctions that end in a sale tend to be reported quickly, and the results that arrive later include a larger share of homes that were passed in or withdrawn.
Whether the same thing happens to the 24.8 per cent is not something the preliminary table can answer. With 32 Brisbane results outstanding, the final rate could sit a few points either side of it.
Withdrawn auctions count as unsold in Cotality's rate
Cotality's published method sets the number of properties known to have sold before, at or after auction against all known auction results, including homes that were passed in or withdrawn. It does not publish a rate where fewer than ten results have been collected, because a sample that small is not reliable.
Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
Cotality's weekly summary also reports the two big coastal markets, which sit outside the capital city totals. On the Gold Coast, 49 auctions were held in the week ending 6 September. With 38 results collected, 15 were sold and 23 were not, a preliminary clearance rate of 39.5 per cent.
Related readJust over half of Brisbane's reported auctions sell in mid-AugustThat is close to where the region stood a week earlier. In the week ending 30 August, the Gold Coast's preliminary rate was 40.0 per cent, from 16 sales among 40 reported results, and its final rate was 37.3 per cent across 51 auctions. For the second week running, the Gold Coast's early figure has been well above Brisbane's.
The Sunshine Coast had 16 auctions and only nine results collected at the time of publication, five of them sold. Cotality did not publish a clearance rate for the region on a sample that small. The week before, when 31 auctions were held on the Sunshine Coast, the preliminary rate was 45.0 per cent and the final rate 38.7 per cent.
Both regions are small enough that a handful of results can move the percentage a long way from one week to the next. The final figures, which Cotality publishes each Thursday once nearly all results are in, are the ones to compare.
How Brisbane compares with the other capitals
Brisbane was the lowest of the capitals for which Cotality published a preliminary rate, and by some distance. The two largest markets both improved on the previous week, while the smaller capitals looked more like Brisbane.
| Capital | Auctions | Sold of reported | Early rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 662 | 318 of 546 | 58.2% |
| Sydney | 523 | 232 of 402 | 57.7% |
| Canberra | 35 | 11 of 30 | 36.7% |
| Adelaide | 95 | 19 of 55 | 34.5% |
| Perth | 13 | 4 of 12 | 33.3% |
Cotality, Property Market Indicator Summary, week ending 6 September 2026. Preliminary results. One auction was held in Tasmania and did not sell.
Melbourne's 58.2 per cent was up from 54.9 per cent a week earlier and, on Cotality's description, a four-week high. Sydney's 57.7 per cent was a rise of 1.4 points and its best early result in 18 weeks. Both cities held 2.8 per cent more auctions than the week before. Against last year the gap is wide: Sydney's 523 auctions compare with 725 in the same week of 2025, and Melbourne's 662 with 1,085, on the year-ago counts in Cotality's preview.
Related readMore than half of Brisbane auctions passed in during first week of JuneAdelaide moved the other way. Its preliminary rate fell 16.2 points in a week, to what Cotality describes as that city's lowest early result since April 2020, even though Adelaide held 13.1 per cent more auctions than in the same week last year. Canberra's 36.7 per cent was its lowest in seven weeks and well under its winter average of 45.4 per cent, on about half the number of auctions held a year earlier.
The gap matters for how the national number is read. Melbourne and Sydney together held 1,185 of the 1,462 capital city auctions, about 81 per cent, so the combined rate of 52.7 per cent mostly reflects those two cities. It was 0.3 points above the previous week's 52.4 per cent and, Cotality notes, a little above the winter average of 52.3 per cent. Queensland sellers and buyers are better served by the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast rows than by the headline.
The market behind the auction numbers
The auction results sit inside a wider slowdown that other Cotality data describes. The firm's Home Value Index for August, as reported by Australian Property Investor magazine on 4 September, showed Brisbane dwelling values down 1.0 per cent over the month and 2.7 per cent over the quarter. Values were still 10.8 per cent higher than a year earlier, with a median of $1,080,142.
The same report put the median time a Brisbane home takes to sell at 28 days, up from 19 days. More homes for sale and longer campaigns give buyers room to wait, and an auction is the method of sale where waiting shows up most plainly, because the result is recorded on a single day.
Related readNearly one in four auctions withdrawn as vendors step backCotality has also pointed to sellers changing method. Across the capitals, the number of auctions has now been more than 30 per cent below the previous year's level for four weeks in a row. Brisbane's 7.6 per cent annual fall in the first week of spring is modest by comparison, and in the last week of winter the city held 21.1 per cent more auctions than a year earlier, not fewer.
For agents and auctioneers, that combination is demanding: a steady flow of campaigns, and a smaller share of them ending under the hammer. A low clearance rate is a measure of how many reserves were met on the day. It does not measure how many of those homes will eventually sell.
What comes next on the calendar
Cotality expects the number of auctions to rise as spring goes on. Its release puts the capital city total at around 1,640 for the week ending 13 September and about 1,900 for the week after, compared with the 1,462 just held.
The final clearance rates for the opening week of spring are due on Thursday 10 September, once the late results have been collected. The same release will carry Cotality's count of the auctions scheduled in each capital for the coming weekend, which will show whether Brisbane's list grows with the season.
For Brisbane, the question the next few releases will answer is whether more homes coming to auction meet more bidders, or whether the same pool of buyers is spread across a longer list. The first week of spring cannot settle that on its own.
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.
