A total of 3,146 homes were taken to auction across the combined capitals last week, the highest count since last year's pre-Easter figures of 3,519.
However, preliminary data from CoreLogic shows the combined capital cities' clearance rate of 64.8% was down 5.9 percentage points from the previous week's result of 70.7% (later revised to 61.8%).
This also marks the lowest level so far this year, excluding January results which, the property analytics firm said, tend to be volatile due to low volume.
According to CoreLogic, the decline was driven by a growing market uncertainty due to tariff-related tensions and share market volatility.
Melbourne hosted the most auctions, with 1,424 homes going under the hammer, down from its 2024's pre-Easter volume of 1,760.
The preliminary clearance rate came in at 67%, a sharp drop from the 72.9% result recorded a week earlier (revised down to 64.1%).
Sydney saw 1,307 auctions, its busiest week since Easter 2022, but early clearance data slipped to 65.5%, down from 69.1% (later revised to 59.9%).
Among the smaller capitals, Adelaide led with 157 auctions, its highest count this year, but also experienced a steep decline in early clearance rates - down to 62.1% from 87.8% a week earlier (70.1% final).
Brisbane hosted 135 auctions, with a preliminary clearance rate of 56.7%, while Canberra saw just 41% of 110 auctions report successful sales, its weakest result since mid-2019.
Auction activity is expected to plunge during the Easter long weekend, with just 635 auctions scheduled nationally.
Volumes are forecast to rise again the following week to around 1,050.
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