Melbourne’s auction clearance rates have been trending downwards, as low as the 40 to 50 per cent range, since spring 2025. Picture: Jason Edwards.
Melbourne real estate experts are forecasting that downwards-trending clearance rates and market conditions will make selling tougher for many homeowners this winter.
According to realestate.com.au, Victoria recorded a preliminary 49.3 per cent clearance rate from 653 early auction results this week
Apollo Auctions Australasia general manager Greg Brydon, who was crowned winner of the 2026 Australasian Auctioneering Championships in May, said agents would need to put in the hard yards as bidders sought value for money across the state’s capital in the colder months.
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Mr Brydon said some agents would “have to get back into the trenches and have better conversations with buyers” even in light of the Reserve Bank’s decision not to raise rates on Tuesday.
The auctioneer added that while good family homes were transacting well, other properties weren’t as in demand.
“So if you’re on a main road, if you require major renovation, or if you’re a development-potential property, you’ve got to have really sharp, really attractive pricing, to attract buyers,” Mr Brydon said.
He noted that in Victoria, most buyers made a logical decision on a property’s asking price before they inspected it and became emotionally invested.
“And so if the alignment of price for a property online is mismatching to what the market sees, you’re going to have no buyers there, that’s pretty plain and simple,” he said.
Apollo Auctions Australasia general manager Greg Brydon says many buyers and sellers have “decision paralysis” at the moment, worried about either buying a house they don’t really love or selling up unless they really have to.
36 Pine St, Frankston North, sold for $721,000 on Saturday.
Mr Brydon helmed five auctions on Saturday, three of which resulted in homes selling in Frankston North, Chadstone and Noble Park North, while the other two homes passed in.
The Frankston North pad, a three-bedroom house at 36 Pine St, was listed with OBrien Real Estate’s Mark Burke.
Mr Burke said four bidders contested the auction with an investor buying it for $721,000 to be part of his self-managed super fund (SMSF).
Under Australian government changes announced in May, negative gearing will be limited to the income investors draw from rental properties, and they won’t be able to deduct against their full incomes, from July 1, 2027.
Exceptions will apply for commercial property, new builds, off-the-plan purchases and homes bought as part of SMSFs.
Home purchased before 7.30pm on May 12 will have negative gearing grandfathered.
Mt Brydon said good family homes were still selling well in Melbourne. Picture: NewsWire/Andrew Henshaw.
OBrien Real Estate’s Taylor Kiriona (left) and Mark Burke (right) celebrate with the new owner of 36 Pine St, Frankston North, following the auction.
Mr Burke said that in the Frankston North area, about 30 to 40 per cent of buyers were investors – including some who believed the Anthony Albanese government changes would be rolled back if Labor lost the next federal election in 2028.
“The market’s not looking like it was in October, that’s for sure – you’re not going to get those prices now,” he said.
“Around here, I reckon – because I’m on the ground – prices have probably dropped a little bit but nothing really significant.”
Realestate.com.au is expecting 857 Victorian homes slated to go under the hammer next week.
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