Buyers respond immediately to rate rise as open home attendance softens

The data is sourced from NurtureCloud and is collected and recorded in real time from Ray White open for inspections across Australia. Every buyer who checks in at a property is logged, allowing us to measure the average number of attendees per open home each week. The table accompanying this article shows attendance during the week of the Reserve Bank’s cash rate decision, after the rate rise was announced, and compares it with the previous week as well as the same period a year earlier. The current results are based on 8,774 open homes attracting 34,816 attendees during decision week.

Because this dataset reflects physical buyer foot traffic rather than listings or settled sales, it provides an immediate read on sentiment. Prices tend to adjust gradually. Attendance can shift within days.

Nationally, attendance averaged 3.3 people per open home during the week of the rate announcement, down 0.4 on the previous week and 0.2 compared with a year earlier. Every major city recorded a week-on-week decline. The broad-based nature of the pullback suggests that once the rate rise was delivered, buyers became more cautious in the immediate aftermath.

The divergence between markets remains consistent with the broader housing cycle.

Perth recorded the strongest attendance at 6.8 people per open home and remains 1.3 higher than a year ago. Brisbane followed at 5.9 attendees and recorded the largest annual increase of any capital, up 1.6 year on year. Adelaide and Darwin also remain slightly ahead of last year’s levels. These are the same markets that have led annual price growth in recent months, reinforcing that demand depth remains comparatively strong despite the short-term adjustment.

By contrast, Sydney and Melbourne are recording softer attendance relative to last year, down 0.6 and 0.3 respectively. While prices in both cities continue to edge higher, buyer intensity per listing is more subdued than in Western Australia and Queensland. The rate rise appears to have amplified what was already a more moderate demand environment in the larger east coast capitals.

Smaller markets are showing a more pronounced easing. Gold Coast and Canberra both recorded notable year-on-year declines in attendance. Although prices remain elevated, the data suggests buyer urgency in these regions has normalised from earlier peaks.

Importantly, this shift occurred immediately following the rate rise announcement. January price data showed that expectations of higher rates had not yet materially altered behaviour. The open home data now indicates that once policy tightened, activity responded quickly, even if underlying supply constraints continue to limit the potential for sharp price falls.

With stock levels still low and new construction failing to keep pace with population growth, any softening driven by higher rates is more likely to result in slower price growth rather than broad-based declines. The early signal from open home attendance is one of caution at the margin, rather than a fundamental weakening of the market.

As this dataset develops over coming months, it will provide greater clarity on whether this initial pullback represents a temporary adjustment or the beginning of a more sustained slowdown. It will also help determine whether buyers grow more comfortable with the new rate environment as expectations settle, or whether higher borrowing costs begin to weigh more meaningfully on activity. The coming weeks will be critical in understanding whether sentiment stabilises or whether momentum begins to shift more decisively.