Sydney auction clearance rates seemingly holds steady on 600-strong Super Saturday

The Sydney residential auction market held firm at 54% during its busiest weekend auction since autumn.

There were 600 properties for auction, 200 more than the previous weekend and 2011’s third-highest total.

Of the 442 reported auctions, some 280 found new owners.

Melbourne’s clearance rate was 53% of the 362 auction results reported to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. The outcome of another 70 scheduled sales was still unknown.

Due to the spring racing carnival distraction, the Melbourne stock level was down by half from last weekend's ''Super Saturday'', when 53% of properties sold.

The dearest sale in Melbourne was a four-bedroom timber cottage on a 460-square-metre Chatsworth Road, Prahran block, which fetched $3,137,500.

Melbourne’s $128 million weekend tally was divided between $97 million of houses at a $659,000 median price and $31 million in units at a $458,500 median.

Dr Andrew Wilson from Australian Property Monitors suggests the Sydney results are a sign of market resilience.

Although the previous weekend’s adjusted clearance rate was 53.8%, having initially been put at 56.3% on the Saturday night tally.

Some $226 million of Sydney property sold under the weekend auction hammer at an $807,000 average. The median price for houses was $862,000, and for units it was $600,000.

Continuing his strong month of sales, the most expensive property sold at auction was a four-bedroom house at Saratoga that fetched $3.5 million through Stuart Gan at PRDnationwide Ettalong.

Buyer activity in the southeast Queensland auction market rebounded, according to Jason Andrew Auctioneers.

The number of buyers registering at auction more than doubled and the number of registered buyers making a bid remained above the year-to-date average.

However the overall clearance rate rose only marginally to 38%, Andrew adds.

“The spike in buyer registrations was an encouraging sign, but that the activity was by and large limited to properties with clearly motivated vendors.

“At one auction of a deceased estate, we recorded a crowd of 40 people with five registered bidders.

“The property sold under the hammer, just above the vendor’s adjusted reserve.

“There are an increased number of buyers who are ready and willing to act, but unwilling to pay a premium.

“This remains a market where serious vendors who want to secure a sale must take note of current market value and adjust their price expectations accordingly,” Andrew suggests.