Harcourts to run Your Day, its first trans-Tasman auction campaign

Harcourts Australia and Harcourts New Zealand will run their first coordinated trans-Tasman auction campaign, called Your Day, from Monday 25 January to Sunday 7 February 2027, Harcourts announced on 22 October. Participating offices in both countries will take properties to auction in the same fortnight, the point in the year when, on Cotality's figures, the capital city auction market restarts after summer.

For agents in participating offices, that means campaigns launched over the Christmas and New Year break and, in Victoria, reserve prices published under the state's new disclosure rule.

How the Harcourts Your Day auction campaign works

• Auctions: 25 January to 7 February 2027, "with arrangements varying by property and participating office", according to Harcourts' Your Day campaign page.
• Launch: participating properties are planned to launch between 26 December 2026 and 5 January 2027, with the first campaign weekend planned for 9 January.
• Charity: Harcourts will donate $100 from every eligible Australian Your Day sale, through the Harcourts Foundation, to Orange Sky, which offers free laundry and shower services to people doing it tough. The donation does not apply to New Zealand sales.

What Harcourts says

Harcourts Australia chief executive Adrian Knowles said: "Your Day is about creating an opportunity for our network and our clients." Bringing the two countries together "for a coordinated auction campaign for the first time" would give participating offices "something to get behind", he said, and "create a shared focus and help build momentum at the start of the year".

Kobe Rae, Harcourts' head of auctions for Australia, said: "For sellers, it's an opportunity to put a well-prepared property in front of buyers early in the year. For buyers, it creates another reason to engage with the market and explore what's available."

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Harcourts New Zealand national auction manager Shane Cortese said: "Auctions work best when buyers are engaged, sellers understand the process and the property is well prepared for the market."

The campaign has drawn support from offices in both countries. "We've always had a really strong auction culture here at Harcourts Hawke's Bay, with fantastic results for our clients," said Brayden Coldicutt, managing director of Harcourts Hawke's Bay in New Zealand. In Brisbane, Harcourts Pinnacle chief growth officer Jonathon King said: "In a market where buyers and sellers have plenty to think about, creating a clear reason to engage is important."

Timed for the restart of the auction market

The Your Day fortnight falls in the same two weeks of the calendar as the first fortnight of Cotality's 2026 auction reporting. In the week ending 1 February, Cotality counted 1,629 capital city auctions on preliminary figures, 17.2 per cent more than a year earlier. In the week ending 8 February, 1,593 homes went under the hammer and the preliminary clearance rate reached 73.7 per cent, the highest since mid-October 2025, Cotality said on 9 February. It expected about 2,800 auctions two weeks later, roughly three-quarters more.

The Victorian reserve rule

Victorian offices will run Your Day auctions under new disclosure rules. Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance, updated on 22 October, says that for sales on and from 16 October 2026, agents must publish the seller's reserve price, as a single dollar amount, at least seven days before an auction or fixed-date sale. "If the reserve price hasn't been published 7 days before the auction or fixed-date sale, it cannot go ahead," the regulator says.

In practice, a Victorian Your Day auction on Saturday 30 January needs its reserve published by Saturday 23 January, a fortnight after the first campaign weekend. One on Saturday 6 February needs it by 30 January. In the first week the rule applied, Melbourne auction volumes dropped by a third.

What it means for agents

• Lock in listings before Christmas. Your Day properties launch between 26 December and 5 January, so appraisals, vendor sign-off and marketing will mostly need to be settled before the break.
• Set Victorian reserves early. A missed seven-day deadline stops the auction, so for a 30 January auction the reserve conversation has to be finished within two weeks of the first campaign weekend.
• Use the calendar with vendors. In the equivalent weeks of 2026, about 1,600 capital city auctions were held each week, against about 2,800 expected a fortnight later. If 2027 follows that pattern, a Your Day auction will face fewer competing capital city auctions than one held later in February.