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In the latest episode of Broker Daily Uncut, host Alex Whitlock, joined by Finni brokers Eva Loisance and Costa Arvanitopoulos, reviewed the first meaningful weekend of auction activity, pointing to robust clearance rates across several capital cities.
Sydney recorded a 79.6 per cent clearance rate across 455 auctions, while Adelaide reached 83.6 per cent. Brisbane came in at 69 per cent and Melbourne at 67.9 per cent, with the combined capitals sitting at 73.7 per cent.
“Let’s remember that the market is still warming up and the stock on market is still fairly low,” Whitlock said.
“But it’s been a pretty hot market so far from what I gauge from Cotality data.”
“The auction results show that those sort of numbers for probably the first week back really in the auction market are actually really, really good,” added Arvanitopoulos.
“I would love to revisit those in about a month or two when everyone’s really back in action. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re going to be seeing high 80s, especially in Sydney.”
Rate hikes and borrowing capacity
The discussion unfolded against the news of the Reserve Bank’s first rate increase since August 2025. Although widely anticipated, the move marked a shift in the interest rate cycle.
The official cash rate is now at 3.85 per cent.
Despite this, the panel questioned whether a single hike would materially dampen buyer appetite, particularly given the resilience shown during the previous tightening cycle.
Whitlock noted that demand remained robust in the last tightening cycle, even when interest rates were raised 11 times.
“We’ve had one hike. Interest rate movements are cyclical. I can’t ever remember there being one increase followed by a decrease.
“If 11 hikes didn’t do anything, what’s one going to do? People will still need to hit the market regardless of what interest rates are.”
Arvanitopoulos added that some investors may be acting quickly in response to rising rates.
“I almost want to say that what’s happening with the RBA interest rate has pushed people to act quickly … investors especially are thinking, well, let’s get in quick.”
Loisance said that there’s a variety of ways that brokers can help in the wake of the rate hike.
“What we need to think about as broker is really how to compensate for that hike with a bit more strategic lending,” she said.
“This obviously is going to affect how much you can borrow, but there’s always another solution. You might go from prime lenders to second-tier lenders, or there are some that offer less buffer on their assessment or a cheaper interest rate. There’s always something that you can do.”
CGT and policy pressure
The trio also looked at capital gains tax (CGT) discounts and whether the speculated changes to this could ease market pressure.
The Labor government is reportedly considering changing the discount, which has been in place since the 1990s, and reduce the taxable portion of a capital gain by 50 per cent for assets held for longer than a year.
“They’re doing it to help the supply and the affordability of property,” Whitlock said.
“But when you look at it, it basically is just revenue raising. Nothing of that is going to increase supply. Maybe in the short term when people panic and sell early so they don’t pay tax.
“But in the long term, it’s going to be harder for developers to stack up because they’ve got to pay more tax. It’s going to be harder for investors to sell because they’re going to have to pay more tax. It makes no sense whatsoever. And regardless of how the government spins it, it’s basically just more revenue raising.”
Housing shortage underpins demand
While the market is still warming up for the year and stock levels remain relatively low, Whitlock, Loisance and Arvanitopoulos suggested constrained supply is continuing to drive competition.
While attempts to boost supply have been enacted, such as the NSW government’s $1 billion pre-sale finance guarantee, brokers have warned that it will do little to materially lift housing supply.
Broker Daily recently reported that housing supply in Perth had fallen to record lows, despite demand surging.
According to data and analytics company Cotality, Australian house prices surged by 8.6 per cent in 2025.
“There’s just not enough properties for what people want to buy,” added Arvanitopoulos.
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