Apartment auction success rate in strong holding pattern: CoreLogic

The national apartment auction success rate was 76 percent after the weekend results, according to CoreLogic. It was down just one percent on the prior week's 77 percent clearance rate and consistent with the results on the last Saturday in September. Canberra was the strongest apartment market at 87 percent, followed by Sydney's 83 percent and Melbourne on 72 percent. There were 515 apartment and townhouse auction results at an $810,000 median price. There was a $1,022,500 median price in Sydney. Its highest advised price was in Potts Point, where a two-bedroom apartment with a study sold for $2.63 million, with five bidders taking the price $730,000 above its reserve. The 125sqm unit in the Rex complex on Macleay St (above) last sold for $1,085,000 in 2010. It was offered as a $1200 a week rental last November. There was a $718,500 median in Melbourne. The nation's cheapest apartment sale was in Melbourne where a 1968-built apartment in South Yarra fetched $345,000 through Edward Carlile at Woodards. The one-bedroom, second-floor Williams Rd apartment had previously traded at $180,000. The strong results comes as homebuyers face the prospect of being able to borrow less, after last week's decision by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for lenders to increase the interest rate buffer used to check if borrowers could still afford repayments should rates rose.