Home Auction Markets Re-Focus

The weekend produced strong home auction results for sellers across the country with all capitals recording auction clearance rates well above 80% on Saturday, April 17, with the exception of Melbourne at 79.7%.

The number of listings nationally followed on from last week’s strong outing and was well ahead of last year’s auctions over the same Saturday.

The Sydney market rebounded reporting a rate of 86.2%, well above the 82.4% recorded the previous weekend and significantly higher than the COVID impacted 35.2% recorded over the same weekend last year. Despite the results, the weekend’s figure was lower than the 90.1% monthly average.

Saturday auction numbers in Sydney were strong with 785 homes listed for sale, above the 692 listed over the same Saturday last year.

Sydney recorded a median price for houses sold at auction on the weekend of $1,560,000 which was 1.0% higher than the $1,550,000 reported over the previous Saturday.

Melbourne reported a weekend clearance rate of 79.7%, which was just above the season-low of 79.1%, but well above the 28.7% COVID-related result of the same weekend last year.

1062 homes were reported listed for auction on Saturday which was well above the 905 auctioned over the previous weekend and higher than the 834 auctioned over the same Saturday last year.

Melbourne recorded a median price of $999,900 for houses sold at auction on the weekend which was 5.7% higher than the $945,750 recorded over the previous weekend.

Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson of MyHousingMarket.com.au

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is selling his Northern California estate, which was listed Monday for $24.5 million.

Located in Atherton, an extremely affluent town northwest of Palo Alto and about 30 miles south of San Francisco, the 3.36-acre property is made up of three parcels that Schmidt acquired over the years, according to public records and Compass, who has the listing.

Schmidt, 69, and his wife, businesswoman Wendy Schmidt, purchased the main home in 1990 for $2 million, according to public records accessed via PropertyShark. They remodelled the 1969 home in 2007, and at that time, bought a neighbouring parcel of land, allowing an expansion of the main house and the addition of a guest house, according to Compass, who holds the listing. A third parcel was later acquired, on which the Schmidts added an English garden house and landscaped grounds overlooking the Eastern Hills.

“Finding three contiguous parcels in Atherton is rare. Even rarer are those with views of the Eastern hills,” said listing agent Katharine Carroll of the reSolve Group at Compass. “The location of this residence is ultra private, at the back of a cul-de-sac with the main house built into a hillside that provides privacy and very good security.”

Across the estate, there are five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and six half bathrooms.

The 5,265-square-foot main house also offers a number of private outdoor spaces on its upper level, including a large terrace off the primary suite, another large terrace off a secondary bedroom, plus a third smaller terrace and two balconies.

Behind the main house is a patio with a pool and spa. For even more outdoor space, there’s an entertaining pavilion, an open lawn and an outdoor fireplace area near the guest quarters.

The grounds themselves are also a standout feature, with an array of mature plants and specimen trees. The upper portion of the property’s landscaping is designed around an Amdega-designed conservatory, which was imported from the U.K. Around the greenhouse, there is a garden of raised beds and fruit trees, Carroll said.

“From the moment you step onto the grounds, it feels as if you’ve been transported to a private botanical sanctuary,” she said.

Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, and then became the company’s executive chairman until 2015. He could not be reached for comment.

This article first appeared on Mansion Global

Home Auction Markets Re-Focus

The auction markets remain clearly in favour of sellers.