Weekend Auction Results 7–8 November 2026: Melbourne Clears 62% in First Test After the Cup Day Rate Hike

Melbourne's auction market delivered its first real verdict on the Reserve Bank's Melbourne Cup Day rate rise this weekend, and the result will surprise anyone expecting buyers to pull back. According to My Housing Market/PropertyUpdate, Melbourne cleared 62.1% of its 629 reported auctions for the week ending 7 November 2026 — up from 60.0% the previous week, and a noticeably stronger result than the market delivered heading into the RBA's 3 November decision.

We'd normally lead with REIV's confirmed Victorian figures — our mandatory primary source for Victorian auction data. REIV's website reported a technical outage affecting its data insights at the time of writing, so Melbourne's REIV figure is data pending; we'll update this post once it's published. In the meantime, My Housing Market's independently collected numbers tell a consistent story: a market that absorbed a fifth rate rise this year without its clearance rate falling.

National Snapshot: Combined Capitals Edge Higher, Still Far Below Last Year

Across the five capitals tracked by My Housing Market, the combined clearance rate rose to 45.6% this weekend — up from 44.8% the previous week, but still 22.1 percentage points below the 67.7% recorded the same weekend last year. Part of that gap is a base effect: last year's comparable week also fell around Melbourne Cup Day, when auction volumes typically dip, so the year-on-year comparison is measuring two very different points in the rate cycle, not a simple like-for-like slide.

Every capital except Brisbane and Canberra reported fewer auctions than the same week last year, continuing a pattern we've tracked since the RBA's tightening cycle resumed in February.

State-by-State Auction Results: 7–8 November 2026

Note: figures above are preliminary counts from My Housing Market/PropertyUpdate, pending REIV's confirmed Victorian result. Perth and Tasmania aren't separately tracked by this source. The national figure is the combined capitals average as reported, covering Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.

Melbourne in Focus: Houses Steady, Units Surge

Of Melbourne's 629 reported auctions, houses cleared at 58.7% with a median of $1,000,000 — down slightly from $1,060,000 the previous week (a mix-of-stock effect rather than a genuine price fall, since a different set of properties goes under the hammer each week) and 9.7% below the $1,108,000 recorded the same weekend last year. Units were the standout performer at an 80.5% clearance rate, extending a pattern we've flagged through most of 2026: buyers whose borrowing capacity has been compressed by five rate rises this year are concentrating their competition on lower-priced, more accessible stock.

Regionally, Melbourne's Outer East led the city at 71.9% clearance, while the South East was the softest performer at a still-respectable 50.0%. IFG's core service corridor — including Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Coburg, Keilor East and Taylors Lakes — sits in Melbourne's north and west, where owner-occupier demand and limited new stock have historically provided some insulation from rate-driven swings in buyer confidence. We'd caution against reading too much into any single weekend's regional split, but a rate hike that failed to dent clearance city-wide is itself the more significant signal.

Why Did Melbourne's Auction Market Strengthen the Weekend After a Rate Rise?

Melbourne's clearance rate improving immediately after a rate rise seems counterintuitive, but it reflects who was already committed to selling and buying before Cup Day arrived. Vendors who listed for this weekend had largely priced in a likely hike — bank economists had been near-unanimous on it for weeks — and buyers bidding this weekend had mostly locked in their finance position beforehand, rather than waiting to see what the RBA decided.

That's a different dynamic to a market reacting in real time to a rate surprise. The RBA's move to 4.85% was one of the most heavily telegraphed decisions of the year — all four major banks had already shifted their calls to "hike" before the meeting — so the auctions that cleared this weekend were largely contracted to buyers whose numbers already assumed a higher rate. The real test of the hike's impact will show up over the next four to six weeks, as fresh listings come to market and new buyers begin their search with 4.85% as the starting point, not a risk to plan around.

What's Driving the Market Right Now

1. The RBA delivered its fifth rate rise of 2026 — but on a split vote. The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate from 4.60% to 4.85% at its Melbourne Cup Day meeting on 3 November, taking the cash rate to its highest level since 2008. The decision was not unanimous: six Board members voted for the rise and three preferred to hold, which is itself a signal that the tightening cycle may be nearing its end. The Board's statement pointed to underlying inflation running at 3.7% annually and staying above the 2–3% target range for longer than previously expected.

2. Melbourne's listing volumes rebuilt after the Cup Day lull. At 629 reported auctions, this weekend's volume is up on the 574 of the previous week, suggesting vendors weren't deterred by a looming rate decision they largely expected to go against them.

3. Units continue to outperform houses by a wide margin. The 80.5% versus 58.7% clearance gap in Melbourne is the widest we've reported this spring, reinforcing a trend that's persisted through five rate rises this year: buyer competition is concentrated at accessible price points, a useful signal for investors reviewing where genuine demand sits.

What This Means for Melbourne Buyers and Investors

With the cash rate now at 4.85% and the next RBA decision not due until 7–8 December, borrowers have a genuine window to plan with certainty rather than guess at what's coming. Use the IFG mortgage calculators to check exactly what 4.85% means for your repayments on your actual loan balance, rather than relying on a generic estimate.

If you're planning to bid in the coming weeks, our guide to pre-approval vs unconditional approval explains what a pre-approval does and doesn't guarantee once the hammer falls. First home buyers should check how the higher rate affects their borrowing capacity before they go back out inspecting. Investors watching the unit-over-house clearance gap can speak with our investment lending team about what that means for yield, while business owners carrying variable-rate commercial debt may want to review commercial lending options or consider refinancing now that the decision is behind us. For the full picture on the RBA's call, see our Melbourne Cup Day rate decision breakdown and last week's pre-decision auction report.

IFG's Take

This weekend's numbers tell us the market had already made its peace with a Cup Day hike well before the RBA's statement landed. Melbourne's clearance rate didn't just hold — it improved, and units in particular are clearing at a rate we rarely see outside peak spring conditions.

We're not going to guess what the RBA does in December. What we will say is that a 6-3 vote is not the signature of a Board with conviction for more rises, and borrowers shouldn't assume the cycle has further to run just because this decision went the way it did. What matters more than predicting the next move is making sure your own numbers work at 4.85% today. If you'd like your borrowing position checked across a deliberately broad panel of bank, non-bank and specialist lenders — by a director, same business day — get in touch.

This article is general information only and does not constitute financial or credit advice. Victorian auction data is sourced from REIV where available; REIV's results for this weekend were not published at the time of writing due to a reported technical outage, so Melbourne figures here are drawn from My Housing Market/PropertyUpdate (week ending 7 November 2026) and will be updated once REIV's confirmed figures are published. National and other state figures are sourced from My Housing Market/PropertyUpdate. RBA commentary is sourced from the Reserve Bank of Australia's published statement and public reporting. Property decisions should be made with a qualified financial adviser; tax implications should be discussed with your accountant. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Credit subject to lender approval.

Frequently Asked Questions: Weekend Auction Results

Why did Melbourne's auction clearance rate rise the weekend after the RBA's Cup Day rate hike?

Melbourne's clearance rate improving after a rate rise reflects timing rather than a surprise reaction: vendors who listed for this weekend and buyers who bid had largely finalised their plans before the RBA's widely-telegraphed decision, with finance already arranged around an expected 4.85% cash rate. The more meaningful test of the hike's impact will show up in fresh listings and new buyer enquiries over the coming weeks, not in auctions that were already locked in.

Why is REIV's confirmed Victorian clearance rate missing from this week's data?

REIV's website reported a technical outage affecting its data insights at the time this article was written, so Victoria's official, confirmed clearance rate for this weekend was not available. We've used My Housing Market/PropertyUpdate's independently collected preliminary figures instead and will update this post with REIV's confirmed result once it is published.

Is the RBA likely to raise the cash rate again at its December 2026 meeting?

We don't make rate predictions, and neither should your finance planning depend on one. What's notable is that November's rise passed on a 6-3 vote rather than unanimously, which suggests less appetite within the Board for further tightening than earlier in the cycle. The next RBA meeting is 7–8 December 2026; borrowers are better served stress-testing their own numbers at the current 4.85% rate than guessing at the next decision.