City's decline continues
Sydney has languished behind Melbourne for another weekend in the auction clearance stakes, in what now appears to be a clear trend.
Melbourne has reported better auction results than Sydney for the seventh time in eight weeks.
The city posted a clearance rate of 73 per cent last weekend, compared with a clearance rate of 73.8 per cent on the corresponding weekend last year, according to APM PriceFinder.
Sales climbed 2.5 per cent to 710, but the median price for house sales slipped 0.2 per cent to $860,000 and the median price for unit sales fell 3.1 per cent to $547,000.
Sydney’s clearance rate fell from 76.2 per cent last year to 65.1 per cent last weekend.
Sales slumped 24.5 per cent to 383, although the median house price jumped 13.1 per cent to $1.28 million and the median unit price rose 6.6 per cent to $763,000.
Brisbane had eight sales at a clearance rate of 66.7 per cent, Adelaide had 16 sales at a rate of 66.7 per cent and Canberra had 18 sales at a rate of 66 per cent.
Across Australia, the clearance rate fell from 71.7 per cent to 69.8 per cent.
Sales decreased 12 per cent to 1,135, with house prices up 6.8 per cent to $972,000 and unit prices down 0.8 per cent to $655,000.
McGrath Estate Agents Lane Cove in Sydney achieved the weekend’s best result, selling a four-bedroom Longueville house for $4.26 million.
Buxton Brighton had Melbourne’s highest sale, fetching $3.9 million for a four-bedroom Brighton house.
In Canberra, Luton Properties sold a three-bedroom Deakin house for $1.3 million.
Harris Real Estate Glenelg achieved Adelaide’s best result, selling a four-bedroom Malvern house for $1.29 million.
Brisbane’s best result was a four-bedroom Eight Mile Plains house that LJ Hooker Sunnybank Hills sold for $1.24 million.