Auction Market Ends March On A High
Sydney’s market bounced back at the end of the month.
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While the month of March has seen the auction markets, especially on the east coast, disturbed with holiday distractions and extreme weather events, the final weekend of the month saw solid results for most sellers generally.
The national auction market reported a clearance rate of 74.0% at the weekend —similar to the previous weekend’s 75.1% but lower than the 85.2% recorded over the same weekend last year.
National auction numbers were higher again at the weekend with a year-to-date high of 2686 reported listed comparted to the previous weekend’s 2475. This is well below the 3118 reported over the same Saturday last year.
The Sydney market bounced back to end the month higher, posting a clearance rate of 72.7% at the weekend – higher than the 69.6% reported over the previous weekend but lower than the remarkably high 90.4% result reported over the same weekend last year.
Sydney’s higher clearance rate was reported despite a surge in listings with 950 auctions reported compared to the previous weekend’s 866. Both figures sit below the 1227 auction over the same weekend last year.
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,613,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was lower than the $1,757,000 reported over the previous weekend but 2.5% higher than the $1,573,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne reported a year-to-date high of 1353 homes listed for auction at the weekend – higher than the previous weekend’s 1290 but lower than the 1593 auctioned over the same weekend last year.
The Victorian capital recorded a clearance rate of 73.4% this weekend, up on the previous weekend’s 69.9% but well below the 83.7% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $1,100,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was similar to last weekend’s $1,115,000 but 8.4% higher than the $1,015,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson, My Housing Market.
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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
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