Sydney property accelerates and Melbourne keeps moving despite grand prix

Sydney property kept up its star performance on the weekend, while Melbourne proved a steady player with the Australian Grand Prix doing little to detract buyers.

Sydney auction clearance rates were at 81.8 %, up from 76.1% last week and largely up from the same weekend last year which was 68.8%. There were 631 properties listed, 392 auctions and 338 sold. The median price of auctions for houses was $983,300, with the median unit prices at $715,000.

In Melbourne, the clearance rate was 73.9%, up from 65.4% last week, and slightly up from the same weekend last year at 65.1%. There were 924 properties listed, 671 auctions and 501 sold. The median house price for auctions was $750,000, while the median unit price was $512,000.

In Brisbane, the clearance rate was 38.5%, while in Adelaide it was 57.1% amid the South Australian state government election.

Nationally the most expensive house sold at auction on the weekend was in Toorak, Melbourne, at $6,008,000. In Sydney, the most expensive property was a six bedroom house in Maroubra, at $3,010,000.

The most affordable property was a one bedroom unit in Carnegie, Melbourne, at $272,000. In Sydney, the most affordable property sold was a two bedroom house in Davistown, at $368,000.

Australian Property Monitors senior economist Andrew Wilson told SmartCompany for Sydney the solid result was “groundhog day”.

“It’s remarkably consistent,” he says.

“There is no real trend there… but the prestige market is picking up.”

In Melbourne, he says the grand prix did not impact property sales in the same way as the AFL Grand Final or the Melbourne Cup tends to do. He says auction listings were up on last week, as last weekend was the Labour Day long weekend.

“It was a solid weekend for Melbourne… with an encouraging clearance rate,” he says.

“The results are not in the boom territory of Sydney… there are lots of change-over buyers resulting in higher listings and higher clearance rates.”

He says the property figures for Melbourne are in contrast to the Melbourne economy which is not so strong.

“But with interest rates low and the banks being competitive and offering good mortgage products, consumer interest is strong.”

Wilson says the outer east of Melbourne and the inner east prestige areas remain strong for auction sales, as do the inner bayside areas of Brighton, Mentone and Mordialloc, along with suburbs in the City of Stonnington.