Melbourne holds out against national auction slide

A resurgence in auction sales in Melbourne provided a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy residential property market over the weekend.

Melbourne property vendors enjoyed a relatively strong 65% auction clearance rate on the weekend, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, a significant rebound from the previous weekend’s disappointing 60% clearance rate.

The number of properties for sale declined by a substantial margin, however, falling to 633 from 825 the previous weekend.

In Sydney 51% of 240 properties up for auction sold, down from the previous weekend’s 53% clearance rate on 289 properties, Australian Property Monitors data shows.

Brisbane’s auction clearance rate continued its recent downward trend by tumbling further from 22% to 20% this weekend, although the number of properties for auction increased from 33 to 43.

And in Adelaide a relatively small 26 properties on the selling block helped push the clearance rate to 69%, up from 65% of 39 properties the previous weekend.