More listings"¦more sales

THE residential property auction market is running hot with more listings and sales on the weekend.

According to Australian Property Monitors’ Home Price Guide, Melbourne surged ahead with 812 listings and 589 sales totalling a record $307.3 million. The most expensive property sold was a four bedroom house in Port Melbourne for $2.81 million.

In Sydney, the market was consistent with 379 auctions and 231 sales. The total of properties sold was $181.9 million. A four bedroom house in South Coogee was the dearest property sold at $5.4 million.

Meanwhile, APM’s latest September quarter Official Housing Data show Sydney’s median house price has risen 2.9% in the last three months and 4.6% in the last 12 months to $548,344.

Melbourne’s median house price has risen a whopping 9.6% in the three months and 19.5% in the last 12 months to $435,064.

APM’s general manager Michael McNamara said Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane property markets continue to boom to the delight of investors and to the despair of first home buyers.

“We continue to see particularly robust conditions at the premium end of all these Eastern capitals.

“This, of course, highlights the innate bluntness of monetary policy as an instrument in controlling inflation. Rising interest rates will affect, much more profoundly, lower to middle income earners, as they tend to pay a greater proportion of their disposable income to service mortgage repayments. In the property market this will mean that in an environment of tightening monetary policy, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor will continue to get poorer,” he continued.

Australian Property Journal

Home Price Guide® Auction Results – MELBOURNE SUMMARY

52 Week hi – 90%
52 Week low – 0%

Dearest:
41 Swallow St, Port Melbourne. 4 br house. Marshall White Real Estate Armadale $2,812,500

Cheapest:
12 Bugle Cl, South Morang. land. Ray White Real Estate Epping VIC $145,000

Home Price Guide® Auction Results – SYDNEY SUMMARY

52 Week hi – 69%
52 Week low – 0%

Dearest:
5-7 Garnet St, South Coogee. 4 br house. First National Coogee $5,400,000

Cheapest:
27 Young Av, Camden. land. Elders Camden $220,000

Home Price Guide® Auction Results – ADELAIDE SUMMARY

52 Week hi – 88%
52 Week low – 0%

Dearest:
3 Coolibah Av, Kensington Gardens. 4 br house. Bernard H Booth $1,320,000

Cheapest:
36 John Rice Av, Elizabeth Vale. 3 br house. Casserly & Mitchell $238,000

Home Price Guide® Auction Results – BRISBANE SUMMARY

52 Week hi – 83%
52 Week low – 0%

Dearest:
16 Agnes St, Auchenflower. 4 br house. SPACE Property Agents $1,510,000

Cheapest:
14/45 Rudge St, Woodridge. 3 br unit. Ray White Springwood $233,000

Note: The Clearance Rate is the percentage of properties sold under the hammer or prior to auction compared to the total number of reported auctions plus properties withdrawn from auction.

Source: www.homepriceguide.com.au. Copyright Australian Property Monitors 2007.