Weekend auction wrap: where the hammer fell
Sydney’s weekend clearance rate from the preliminary 233 results compiled by Australian Property Monitors. There were 276 auctions held in Sydney. Clinton McNabb at APM says there are about 340 auctions due next weekend. After some further results came in from the July 16 auctions, Sydney recorded a 52% clearance rate, considerably lower than the 56% published figure.

Melbourne’s weekend clearance rate from the preliminary 441 results compiled by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. There were 490 auctions held in Melbourne. REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo says there are about 585 auction due next weekend. After some further results came in from the July 16 auctions, Melbourne recorded a 55% clearance rate, lower than the 58% published figure from the initial Saturday results.

The price paid for the property at 61/67 Carabella Street, Kirribilli, which went to auction on Saturday and was featured in Property Observer's Friday Form Guide. Before the auction Sydney Boutique Property agents Tom Scarpignato and Chris Delaney marketed the property with $860,000 plus hopes. The current tenant pays $945 per week for the property, giving the new owner a yield of 5.28%, higher than the indicative gross rental yield for units in Kirribilli of 4.9%, according to RP Data.

The top sale of the weekend was in Seaforth, Sydney when a two-storey, four-bedroom house sold through Glen Wirth at Richardson & Wrench Seaforth. It had last sold at $1.33 million in 2001. It had been marketed as bidding around the mid $2 million mark.

A four-bedroom house in the Brisbane suburb of North Booval was the weekend’s cheapest sale, according to APM. It sold pre-auction through the Professionals Thornton Ipswich. The home was affected by the January floods. The property has since been stripped back internally and is ready to be rebuilt. It was suggested the rental on completion would be $290 a rent.