Australia's biggest property tax overhaul in decades has sent national weekend auction clearance rates below 50% for the first time since the pandemic, as investors retreat from a market long seen as the primary way to build wealth. The centre-left Labor government will scrap the capital gains tax discount and ban negative gearing on existing housing from July 2027, targeting the roughly 2 million investment property owners who represent about 10% of working-age Australians. Data from Cotality shows clearance rates have fallen to the lowest point since the pandemic, with one Brisbane agent reporting viewer numbers and bidders halved and clearance rates dropping to 30–35%. Economists now expect home prices to fall between 5% and 10% in the year ahead, with SQM Research forecasting Sydney prices could drop as much as 9% in 2026 and Melbourne as much as 7%, while some investors report portfolio value losses of up to A$500,000. The changes have also cooled activity among 'rentvestors'—first-home buyers who purchase property but rent or live with parents to claim negative gearing—with an estimated 6,500 such buyers entering the market each year now unable to use the concession.