Auction Markets Still Strong Nationwide
The national clearance rate increased at the weekend.
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Capital city auction markets reported more strong results at the weekend with little signs of easing.
A total of 1943 auctions were reported listed nationally at the weekend, August 21, higher than the previous weekend’s 1872 and significantly higher than the 684 auctions over the same weekend last year.
The national clearance rate also increased at the weekend – up to 80.7% compared to the previous Saturday’s 78.2%.
Sydney provided a strong clearance rate of 86.3% albeit from a relatively scarce selection of just 412 homes offered for sale on Saturday – down on the previous weekend’s 472 auctions.
Fewer auction withdrawals however continue to support higher clearance rates with the withdrawal rate falling to 12% on Saturday – less than the previous two weekends of 13.1% and 14.6%.
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,878,000 for houses sold at auction, well above the $1,626,250 reported over the previous Saturday and 40.4% higher than the 1,337,500 recorded for the corresponding weekend last year.
Melbourne’s auction market held the line on Saturday despite increasing lockdown restrictions.
The Victorian capital recorded a clearance rate of 64.9% – just below the previous weekend’s 66%.
The poor results were a reflection of shutdown-related withdrawals – rising from the previous weekend’s 41.5% to a remarkable 52.6%.
Listing numbers were higher at the weekend, up from the previous weekend’s 1138 to 1273.
The median price for a house sold at auction in Melbourne at the weekend was $1,018,000 – lower than the $1,085,000 recorded over the previous weekend.
Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson, My Housing Market.
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The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, spent more than three years restoring the house, which is one of the priciest properties for sale in the Texas city.
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In 2021, actress Emma Stone purchased a historic estate in Austin, Texas, with a plan to move her family there. Four years later, she has instead decided to put the property on the market.
The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, are asking $26.5 million for the newly renovated estate, according to Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties/Forbes Global Properties, one of the listing agents. The 1.25-acre property, located in the upscale Tarrytown neighbourhood, will be among the most expensive on the market in Austin.
Stone and McCary have spent more than three years renovating and restoring the Texas property, Moreland said.
A spokesperson for Stone didn’t respond to requests for comment. Moreland said the couple’s New York business interests have expanded since they started the remodel, and while they hope to live in Austin eventually, it doesn’t make sense for now.
The couple, who are co-founders of the production company Fruit Tree, own a roughly $12 million apartment in lower Manhattan, according to property records. Stone is slated to star in the upcoming contemporary Western film “Eddington.”
It’s unclear what Stone and McCary paid for the Austin property, since Texas is a nondisclosure state . The Georgian-style brick house dates to around 1940, making it one of the oldest estates in the area.
The roughly 10,000-square-foot estate includes a main house with four bedrooms and a two-bedroom guesthouse. The property also has a pool, a hot tub, and a garage with a screening room and entertaining space above.
As part of the renovation, the couple removed, cleaned and reused all the exterior brick. They also reconfigured some of the living spaces, opening the kitchen to the living room for a more modern layout. It took more than a year just to install the millwork in the screening room, said Moreland.
The contractors are now putting the finishing touches on the property, he said.
The “La La Land” actress has a track record of buying and selling her homes for significantly more than she paid. In 2022, she sold her blufftop Malibu, Calif., home for $4.425 million after buying it for $3.25 million in 2018, according to property records.
Last year, she sold her home in L.A.’s Comstock Hills neighbourhood for $4.3 million, significantly more than the $2.3 million she paid in 2019.
Austin saw an influx of new residents during COVID, but many of those are now returning to the East and West coasts, particularly workers in the tech sector.
While the market “has come down to earth a little bit” since the pandemic-era boom, Moreland said, he has seen a number of $20 million-plus deals over the past few months.
Moreland has the listing with colleague Diane Humphreys.
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