Hot property auctions

The Melbourne property market gathered even more steam over the weekend, with 81% of the 1300-plus properties up for auction reportedly finding a buyer.

The buying frenzy follows a Real Estate Institute of Victoria report last week suggesting that rents in Melbourne are likely to skyrocket due to very low vacancy levels.

The extraordinary exuberance of the Melbourne property market at the moment was highlighted by reports that one buyer, who paid more than $6 million for a property in leafy Toorak, planned to demolish the luxurious home and construct a tennis court.

In Sydney, auction clearance rates reportedly hit 64%, an improvement on the 54.5% this time last year, although the 379 properties up for grabs were a long way short of those available in Melbourne.

Things moved more slowly in the other capital cities. Twenty eight of the 74 properties up for auction in Brisbane sold, for a clearance rate of 37.8%, while in Adelaide 20 of 56 properties sold for a clearance rate of 35.7%.