The Investors Club said Western Australia would feel the pinch most because the average first-home loan had soared by $41,000 in 12 months.

Loans went up by an average of $22,000 in South Australia, $21,000 in Victoria and Tasmania, $18,000 in NSW and $12,000 in Queensland, the club said.

From Thursday, the first-home grant will be cut from $14,000 to $10,500 for existing homes and from $21,000 to $14,000 for new homes, before being scaled back to $7000 next year.

The club|s acting president, Richard Van Proctor, said home owners would come under significant mortgage stress when the Reserve Bank started to lift rates, as it had indicated it would.

"People have taken advantage of the first-home buyers grant and rushed in to buy properties because they got the deduction on stamp duty and they got the government subsidy," he said.

"But as interest rates rise, the average person with their first-home loan is going to struggle."

Realtors across Australia have been publicising the first-home grant in an effort to lure young buyers into the market. Anticipating an 11th-hour frenzy before the grant is cut on Thursday, Sydney agents listed a record 690 properties for auction, compared with only 437 the previous weekend, according to Australian Property Monitors.

Despite predictions, buyers remained cautious, with 62.8 per cent of properties cleared, compared with 70.7 per cent the previous weekend -- a drop of about 8 per cent.

APM head of research Yvonne Chan said many of the houses that did not clear auction would probably be sold this week.

Melbourne took a weekend off from its traditional spring selling season, with most Melburnians staying home to watch football.

Robert Larocca of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria said the 96 auctions -- compared with 894 the previous weekend -- were good for a grand final weekend. "We|ve recovered a lot of the ground that we|ve lost over the past year."

Melbourne|s clearance rate was 77.8 per cent, down slightly from 79.5 per cent the previous weekend. This time last year, only 56.5 per cent of properties cleared auction.

Adelaide also took a weekend breather for the AFL grand final. It had only 16 listed auctions compared with the previous Saturday|s 42.

Brisbane|s clearance rates were 44.4 per cent, compared with 40.4 per cent the previous weekend.

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