Queensland recorded its lowest week in auction sales for the second time in a row this year, with a clearance rate of only 30 per cent.
Preliminary PropTrack data found this was the same clearance rate as the week before, and the lowest since the week of March 9, 2025: when ex-tropical cyclone Alfred hit the Sunshine State.
Queensland recorded its lowest week of auction sales for the second week in a row, sitting at a brutal 30 per cent clearance rate. Picture: TEQ
Nationally, the clearance rate was 47 per cent: the lowest result since May 2020, excluding the December and January holidays.
Based on the 303 auction results calculated across Queensland so far, only 91 managed to sell: 62 at auction, 25 prior to auction and four after auction.
Meanwhile, 212 homes were not sold, with 52 withdrawn and 160 passed in.
Clearance rates in the state have not been this low since the week of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. Nationally, the clearance rate was its lowest since May 2020. Picture: Steve Pohlner
Senior economist Anne Flaherty said the low demand was likely due to buyers feeling the hit of three interest rate rises, along with a rise in stock.
“High inflation and cost-of-living pressures continue to weigh on household budgets and buyer confidence,” she said.
“There may also be some early signs of investors becoming more cautious following the federal budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, which have reduced the attractiveness of residential property investment.
PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said interest rate rises and increasing stock affected the result, but added affordable pockets in Queensland were still performing well.
“While a single weekend’s result should not be viewed in isolation, it aligns with a broader softening in buyer demand that has emerged in recent months.”
Ms Flaherty said Queensland’s strong price growth in recent years left more volatile markets exposed to a pullback in demand.
“On the flip side, many of Queensland’s more affordable areas, including pockets of Brisbane and regional markets, are continuing to outperform,” she said.
A three-bedroom home at 30 Lister St, Sunnybank, ended up finding eight registered bidders and a $1.701m sale price, despite conditions in the larger market.
Ray White Queensland auctioneer Tom Gunness said while buyers were still present at auctions, many no longer felt they needed to buy on the spot to secure a home.
“Many buyers [are] preferring time to continue negotiations post auction with conditions,” he said.
“Now more than ever we must ensure that each and every registered buyer has a strategy in place before the auction that we can refer to.
“One bidder and two bidder auctions are becoming increasingly common and ensuring buyers’ comfortability in that negotiation forum can make the difference between selling and passing in.”
Ray White Collective’s auction event on Saturday showed the blue chip market in Brisbane still was able to achieve good results.
The upper end of the property market fared a little better than most.
Ray White Collective’s auction event on Saturday saw a clearance rate of 50 per cent, with $8.5 million worth of real estate sold under the hammer.
A ritzy three-bedroom apartment at 11504/600 Coronation Dr, Toowong, sold for $4.1 million during the auction morning.
The luxury unit at 11504/600 Coronation Dr, Toowong, scored a $4.1m sale price on the same weekend so many other homes didn’t sell at all.
Meanwhile, the luxury five-bedroom home at 25 Radnor Street, Indooroopilly went for $4.4 million; sold for the first time ever after it was built more than three decades ago.
Ray White Collective sales agent Christine Rudolph said the buyer was an ex-pat from Papua New Guinea, bidding on the phone after walking through the property the weekend before.
“We had lots of parties interested but many who couldn’t buy under auction terms today,” she said. “[The buyers had] owned properties in the local area and were looking for the perfect riverfront site … they could see it was a solid build and loved it.”
The property at 25 Radnor St, Indooroopilly, a home never sold since it had been built, finally sold for $4.4m over the same weekend.
Outside of Ray White, the home of former AFL player and coach Michael Voss sold for $5.023m, with Place Woolloongabba agents seeing nearly double the sale price Voss sold it for in 2017.
Despite market conditions, some smaller homes still found success. A three-bedroom house at 30 Lister St, Sunnybank, managed to sell at auction for $1.701m, after a fierce competition between eight registered bidders.
The deceased estate was built in the 1950s, and went on the market for the first time ever when the children of the original owners decided to sell.
The former home of AFL star Michael Voss, 62 Marriott St, Coorparoo, also sold over the weekend for $5.023m.
The campaign managed to bring 32 groups through the home with 17 days on the market, and saw interstate and overseas buyers registered to bid on the property over the weekend.
RE/MAX Australia agent Henry Wong said the home went to a young local family, which was important to the vendors.
“The four adult children weren’t just looking for a sale,” he said, “they wanted the right people to walk through that door next.”
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