The Sydney weekend property auction market recommenced business on Saturday (January 28th) after a five-week break for the holiday season.
Overall strong results were produced for sellers from a choice of homes that have been described as small but reasonable so early in the season, Domain reports.
Auction numbers were low - which is as to be expected for a January weekend affected by Australia Day - but despite this the number of 55 homes listed was still higher than the corresponding figure of 47 listings that were recorded over the same opening weekend period last year.
Sellers - and particularly those in the inner-suburban, higher-priced regions - had the upper hand in the market toward the end of 2016 and this trend is set to continue into the new year.
More than 200 properties are lined up to go under the hammer next weekend, so the numbers are predicted to be significantly higher respectively.
Sydney recorded a clearance rate of 65.3 per cent on Saturday, which was well ahead of the 43.2 per cent reported over the same weekend last year.
Despite this, low auction numbers can result in misleading insights into the underlying nature of the housing market.
Three regions reported 100 per cent clearance rates at the weekend from low listing numbers - the Lower North, Canterbury Bankstown and the South West.
A clearance rate of 75 per cent for the Northern Beaches saw it a place second to those regions, followed by the Upper North Shore, the Inner West and the North West with 66.7 per cent each.
Dr Andrew Wilson, chief economist for the Domain Group, said: "Sydney recorded a median auction price of $907,500 on Saturday, which was 5.2 per cent higher than the $862,500 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $29.6 million was sold at auction in Sydney at the weekend."
