No one is selling, but no one is buying
Across Australia's major cities, fewer than half of homes offered at auction found buyers in the week ending June 21st — a threshold not crossed since the pandemic's first shock in April 2020. The numbers reflect more than seasonal softness; they surface a deeper question about whether a generation's relationship to property ownership is being quietly, permanently redrawn. With interest rates holding firm, political battles over tax reform intensifying, and economists expecting conditions to worsen, the market's distress is becoming a mirror for something larger: the slow erosion of a social compact built on the idea that a home was something ordinary people could one day own.
- Auction clearance rates have collapsed to 47.7% nationally, with Brisbane recording a devastating 33.3% — meaning two in three homes failed to sell, a figure that signals not a correction but a rupture.
- Nearly a quarter of scheduled auctions were pulled before they could proceed, as sellers chose retreat over the public exposure of an unsold property.
- The Reserve Bank held rates at 4.35% but left the door open to further increases, leaving mortgage holders stretched and prospective buyers frozen at the threshold.
- Parliament is preparing to debate reforms to capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing, with the government arguing the changes will cool investor demand — but opponents accuse Labor of dismantling the ladder after climbing it.
- Greens senator David Shoebridge cut through the policy debate with a blunter verdict: the market is broken, and no messaging adjustment will restore what structural unaffordability has already taken.
The Australian property market recorded its weakest auction performance in six years in the week ending June 21st, with a national clearance rate of 47.7% — a figure last seen when the pandemic first closed the economy in April 2020. The damage was spread across every major city, though unevenly. Sydney cleared 47.4% of its auctions, Melbourne managed just above half at 50.6%, and Brisbane fell to a stark 33.3%, with two out of three properties failing to find a buyer. Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra all hovered around 40-47%.
Cotality economist Annabelle Mezieres described a market under compounding pressure: nearly a quarter of scheduled auctions were withdrawn before proceeding, and almost half of homes that did sell were moved before auction day — a sign that sellers are quietly absorbing losses rather than face a public no-sale. Mezieres expects conditions to deteriorate further in coming weeks.
The Reserve Bank offered no relief, holding interest rates at 4.35% while Governor Michele Bullock kept the possibility of further increases on the table. For the millions of Australians already stretched by mortgage repayments, that signal carries real weight.
Into this moment, Parliament is preparing to debate Labor's proposed reforms to capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing — measures framed as relief for first-home buyers by reducing the tax advantages of investment property. The political fight is already sharp. Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume called the changes unfair, noting that Labor MPs had themselves used negative gearing to build wealth. Minister Tanya Plibersek countered that the government expects slower price growth, not a collapse — a distinction that may feel abstract to those who cannot enter the market at all.
Greens senator David Shoebridge offered the starkest reading: the auction results prove the market is broken, and policy adjustments will not repair what has become a structural crisis. "No one is selling, but no one is buying," he said — a sentence that captures the paralysis beneath the numbers, and the fear that affordability has moved beyond the reach of any single reform.
The Australian property market has hit a wall. In the week ending June 21st, fewer than half of homes offered at auction actually sold—a clearance rate of 47.7% that marks the weakest performance since April 2020, when the pandemic first shuttered the economy. The numbers tell a story of a market in distress across every major city.
Data compiled by Cotality, a property analytics firm, shows the damage is widespread but uneven. Sydney managed a 47.4% clearance rate, though 166 homes were withdrawn before they could be offered. Melbourne fared slightly better at 50.6%, but Brisbane collapsed to just 33.3%—meaning two out of every three properties failed to find a buyer. Perth and Adelaide both languished at 40%, while Canberra sat at 47.1%. These are not the numbers of a healthy market. The last time clearance rates fell this low was six years ago, in the opening weeks of the pandemic.
What's driving the retreat? Annabelle Mezieres, an economist at Cotality, points to a combination of seasonal softness and deteriorating conditions. Nearly a quarter of scheduled auctions were withdrawn before they could proceed, and almost half of the homes that did sell were snapped up before the auction even took place—a sign that sellers are desperate to move stock without facing the public humiliation of an unsold property. Mezieres expects the situation to worsen in the coming weeks.
The backdrop is a central bank holding firm. The Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 4.35% last week, a decision that surprised no one but offered no relief to the millions of Australians servicing mortgages at levels far above what they were paying earlier in the year. Governor Michele Bullock has signaled that another rate rise remains possible if inflation doesn't cooperate. For borrowers already stretched, the prospect of further increases is a weight around the neck.
Into this fragile moment steps Parliament, preparing to debate the government's overhaul of two pillars of property investment: the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing. The proposals, unveiled in May's budget, are meant to help first-home buyers by making investment property less attractive. But the political battle is already fierce. Jane Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, called the changes "entirely unfair" on Monday, accusing Labor lawmakers of pulling up the ladder after using negative gearing themselves to build wealth. Tanya Plibersek, the minister for social services, countered that the government expects house prices to grow more slowly, not collapse—a distinction that may matter little to those locked out of the market entirely.
Greens senator David Shoebridge offered a sharper diagnosis. The auction results, he said, prove the market is "broken." Policy tinkering won't fix it. "No one is selling, but no one is buying," he said, "because it doesn't matter what Labor does with its messaging, their changes are not fixing the fundamental dynamics that people cannot afford a house in this country." That statement captures the deeper anxiety beneath the clearance rate numbers: the fear that the problem has moved beyond what policy can solve, that affordability has become a structural crisis rather than a cyclical one.
Notable Quotes
Auction clearance results show the market is broken because people cannot afford a house in this country, regardless of policy changes— Greens senator David Shoebridge
The government expects house prices to grow more slowly, not fall, as changes are aimed at aiding first home buyers— Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Social Services
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What does a 47% clearance rate actually mean for someone trying to buy a home right now?
It means the market has essentially frozen. Sellers are pulling listings because they're not getting the prices they want. Buyers are either priced out or waiting to see if things get worse. It's a standoff.
Is this the interest rate's fault?
Partly. The RBA has kept rates at 4.35%, and there's talk of going higher. That's crushing people with mortgages. But it's also about the underlying problem—houses cost too much relative to what people earn. Rate policy can't fix that alone.
So the government's tax changes—will those help?
That's the real debate. Labor thinks making investment property less attractive will free up supply and cool prices. But Shoebridge's point is sharp: if nobody can afford a house anyway, tinkering with tax incentives for investors doesn't solve the core problem.
Brisbane at 33%—that's catastrophic.
It is. Two-thirds of homes didn't sell. That's not a soft market, that's a market where price expectations have completely detached from what buyers will pay.
What happens next?
Analysts expect it to get worse before it stabilizes. More withdrawals, more pressure on sellers to cut prices. The question is whether that pressure builds fast enough to bring affordability back into reach, or whether it just means fewer transactions in a market that's already broken.