Spotswood weatherboard sells for Block alumni

The Block Sky High alumni Bec and George Douros secured the $910,000 weekend sale of the first house they bought together in Melbourne.

Transformed with a recent year-long DIY $100,000 renovation, the 1950s Spotwood weatherboard was bought almost eight years ago for $490,000.

The 2 Robert Street (above) offering came with a price guide of $850,000 to $900,000 through Jas Stephens, Williamstown, selling agent Mark Hutcheson.

Bec and George, who pocketed $242,000 from their stint on The Block Sky High in 2013, previously subdivided the block to build a townhouse on the site.

The national auction clearance rate nudged higher over the week, at the same time the number of auctions surged to the second highest level this year.

Auction activity across the capital cities increased this week from 2,916 last week to 3,147 this weekend.

It was the largest number of auctions since the last week of February 2017 when 3,301 auctions were held.

This time last year was the Easter long weekend.

The clearance rate across the combined capitals was 77 percent, increasing from 74 percent over the previous week and up from 70.9 percent one year ago.

"Australia’s largest auction markets are continuing to run hot," CoreLogic’s auction commentator Kevin Brogan said.

Sydney saw the highest preliminary clearance rate across the cities at 81.1 percent.

Brisbane and Perth where clearance rates fell.

A total of 1,082 homes were auctioned in Sydney this week, with preliminary results returning a clearance rate of 81.1 percent, the strongest clearance rate for Sydney so far this year.

Last week, across the 1,001 auctions in the city, 76.8 percent of results were successful.

The busiest regions for auctions across Sydney this week were North Sydney and Hornsby (151 auctions) and Inner South West (124 auctions), while clearance rates ranged from as high as 91.3 per cent in Northern Beaches to as low as 63.8 per cent in Parramatta.

Sydney's top sale was at Vaucluse where a six bedroom contemporary home (below) was sold through McGrath Estate Agents.

There were 1,601 Melbourne auctions this week, making it the busiest capital city. Across the 1,391 reported results, 79.9 per cent were successful this week, up from 77 percent last week.

Prices topped out with a five bedroom $5.53 million Brighton house, which was offered for the first time in five decades.

The 1930s Gordon Murphy-designed home with extension designed by architect Geoffrey Woodfall sits on a 1279 square metre Kinane Street block (below).

It sold at $530,000 above reserve.

Sales included a Chelsea beach box (below), number 1322, which sold to a local for $175,000.

"Shed No. 1322 has been held by the same family for three generations," Barry Plant Mordialloc selling agent Michael Care said.

The strongest performing Melbourne sub-region was the North West with 91.7 percent of auctions clearing, followed by the Mornington Peninsula region (88.1 percent) based on preliminary results.

Across Brisbane, auction volumes rose from 179 last week to 196 this week, with a preliminary clearance rate of 44 percent, compared to 50 percent last week. 

Brisbane's top sale was a 442 sqm riverfront block (below) offering city views from its Hawthorne vantage point, that fetched $2,225,000.

The Ray White offering of the Gordon Street had last sold at $2.3 million in 2007.

Preliminary results show that 68.2 percent of the 124 Adelaide auctions were successful this week, up from last week (57.4 percent).

The top sale was a five-bedroom character home at Magill (below) - the former orphanage known as Lentara - with sold through Belle Property for $1.412 million.

With soaring 3.6m ceilings, stained glass, cove cornices, and Baltic timber floors, the house sits on 1490 sq m at 6 Penfold Road.

It last sold at $1.28 million in 2012.

Perth’s preliminary auction clearance rate was 30.8 per cent this week across 13 results. Last week, 42 results were captured across the city, with 61.9 per cent having sold. 

Some 78.4 percent of Canberra auctions were successful this week, up from 72.9 percent last week and higher than one year ago (58.3 percent). There were 104 auctions held in Canberra this week and 114 last week. 

A lakeside reserve 1950s home was the ACT's top sale at $2.59 million at Yarralumba.

The 8 Brown Street three-bedroom monocrete cottage on 867 sq m was the only property on the street of nine houses yet to be redeveloped.

Domain reported there were nine registered bidders.