Price growth didn't emerge amid stellar Sydney autumn auction results and speedy private treaty sales

Capping off Sydney’s strongest autumn home auction market for three years, Sydney's weekend clearance rate was a 75% success rate, based on its preliminary results. 

Sydney recorded seven consecutive weekends of clearance rates above 70%, Australian Property Monitor's Dr Andrew Wilson advised.

The auction market tracked at around 20% higher than the same time last year although interestingly listing numbers remained at around last year’s levels. No rush to the exits or to upgrade it seemed.

Autumn finished with a slight pick up in the volume of the prestige market from its low base with nine homes reportedly sold over Autumn's last weekend at $2 million plus – another year-high result.

Sydney’s inner west produced an 87% success rate on Saturday and an average sale price of $1.1 million from its 58 listings.

The city and east also produced a strong result with an 80% clearance rate. It too had an average sale price of $1.1 million.

The most expensive property reported sold at the weekend was a six bedroom, four bathroom house at 87 Chalmers Road Strathfield (pictured below) sold by Georges Ellis and Co for $2,942,000. It was last sold in 1999 for $675,000 but with a knock-down rebuild done around 2004.

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Six bedrooms are hard to come by - but highly desired by multi-generational families.

Dr Wilson dubbed the standout performer in the inner west as a six bedroom 1860s house at 98 Darling Street, Balmain East which sold for $2.9 million. However it actually last sold at $2.85 million in 2010, so reflected growth of just $50,000 over the past three years.

The most affordable Sydney property reported sold last weekend was a two bedroom unit at Leumeah sold by Richardson & Wrench Campbelltown for $261,500. It had last sold for $275,000 in 2008, so another example of the cheapest becoming cheaper - an almost weekly occurance over the past few months.

A Mount Druitt unit with two bedrooms and one bathroom sold for $230,500 through Ben Price Estate Agents. The Hythe Street unit previously sold in 2003 for $250,000.

A four bedroom, one bathroom Charmhaven home sold through Raine and Horne Charmhaven for $245,000. The Pacific Highway house last sold in 2010 for $285,000.

The decline is in part because of the absence of first home buyers seeking established properties given government grants seeking to channel their interest into new houses and apartments.

None the less Dr Wilson suggests there’s "almost almost irresistible market momentum set to continue into the normally quieter winter selling season."

But RP Data have noted Autumn brought with it a cold wind blowing through the property market.

With just a few days to go until the end of the month, the RP Data daily index suggests house values will decline by about 1% in May following a 0.5% drop in April.

“RP Data's capital city dwelling index looking soft for May, likely to be down nearly 1% for month (-0.9% past 28 days),” tweeted RP Data national research director Tim Lawless yesterday.

This follows dwelling values posted a solid 2.8% gain over the first three months of 2013.

Its been described as a modest and bumpy recovery that began around  November last year.

But Sydney's sale pace has picked up as the time on market cut by half, according to the RP Data advisory.

With the fastest sales rate in the country, Sydney private treaty house stock is rushing out the door in just 35 days average time on market with vendors required to typically offer a 6% discount for houses.

For Sydney private treaty established unit stock is even quicker selling in just 32 days average time on market with vendors required to typically offer a 4.1% discount. The data covers the week ending May 26.

Just three months ago Sydney houses were also spending the least time on average on the market, but it was taking 70 days. Sydney units in late February were typically take 59 days to sell, also the quickest sale type in the country.

So effectively what's happened is that vendor's and buyers are now pretty much on the same page, but in most cases it's the vendor's who've had to give ground.