HOME owners are making the most of rising prices, with a record number of dwellings listed and sold at auction on the weekend.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide all had significantly more properties up for auction than on the same weekend last year, with 1991 homes listed, up from last year's 847, reports. Auction clearance rates in Sydney reached 70.7 per cent at the weekend, up 6.7 percentage points from the same weekend last year.
But Melbourne was by far the busiest city for sales under the hammer, with 1072 properties listed for auction, 75.5 per cent of which were sold.According to Australian Property Monitors, the total weekend auction revenue was up $208 million on the same time last year. The top-priced sale was a property at Cammeray, in Sydney's upmarket north shore, which sold for $4.8m.
Real Estate Institute of Australia president David Airey said clearance rates were well above average and were a measure of the "incredible optimism'' in the housing sector.
"It's certainly having a very buoyant time. it's no wonder the RBA are keeping a close eye on price bubbles,'' Mr Airey said. "It's not just auctions either, private treaty sales are also having a great run.''Mr Airey said buyers were most likely rushing to purchase a property this weekend before the Easter lull.