Auction Market 2026

Armed with Federal and State Government buying incentives, first home buyers are tipped to e a strong force in Australia’s auction market this year.

Investors are also expected to be out in force, according to Domain, which is tipping a “robust” auction market in 2026.

Senior economist Joel Bowman says there has been a big pickup in investor lending, and he expects that to lead to active and competitive auction clearance rates in 2026.

This will be on the back of a standout six months across Sydney and Melbourne, where clearance rates consistently hovered in the high 60% to 70% range.

“Strong clearance rates are a pulse check on the market, and when you’ve got clearance rates in that 70% to 80% range, you’re going to see strong price growth,” he says.

While early January is traditionally a quiet time in the auction market, a number of agencies now hold mass auction events toward the end of the month, which are expected to kick start a strong year of auctions.