Sydney was once again the standout market for the Ray White group with a healthy preliminary clearance rate of 78 per cent of its 101 auctions scheduled.

The leading auction house recorded a whopping 5.5 registered per lot and 2.7 active bidders per property on average.

Ray White New South Wales Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said there was no shortage of buyers in the Sydney market, especially families upsizing or upgrading.

“Buyers are prepared to pay a premium price when they see competition. Our auction day clearance rate suggests the market is still in fine form and we don't see this slowing down anytime soon,” Mr Pattaro said.

“Auction volume for Ray White New South Wales is up 20 per cent compared to September 2019.”

“Property prices within 15km of the CBD are certainly not in decline, and we continue to see prices higher than previously recorded years.”

Top group's sale of the day was in Putney where Ray White Gladesville Sales Agent Joseph Mazar sold  46 Pellisier Rd for $4.105 million in front of a crowd of 100 people.

He said there were five registered bidders and the under bidder lobbed in a $50,000 bid towards the end but was still outbid.

Mr Mazar also today sold 5A John St, Hunters Hill for $2 million on the dot with eight registered bidders all vying for the spacious four bedroom on 616sqm of flat land.

“Four of the bidders were active and we had a crowd of 50 people and the buyers were downsizing.”

Today the terrace style apartment at 5/191-195 Bridge Rd, Glebe today sold immediately after its auction ended for $1,117,500.

Ray White Surry Hills | Alexandria | Glebe | Erskineville Associate Director Matthew Carvalho said a young local couple bought it. “The lifestyle on offer has been popular with buyers. It's full of sun and light, in a small block of 10 and with the two level design it feels more like a townhouse than an apartment,” Mr Carvalho said.

“My sellers are  over the moon. There's a lot of interest in the premium stock.”

Ray White NSW CEO and auctioneer Jason Andrew (pictured) called the auction which attracted two registered bidders.  The sellers were a young family upgrading in the inner west.

Still in the inner west, Ray White Surry Hills | Alexandria | Glebe | Erskineville Director Ercan Ersan sold 57 Hopetoun St, Camperdown (above) sold for $1.340 million to a couple who bought it for their daughter.

“I am really impressed with our results today. The market is holding firm with a lot of unknown factors coming next year. Buyers are confident they are getting good value now and are bidding and buying with confidence,” Mr Ersan said.

“More people come to us as we are the trusted advisors in the market and we will get the deal done at auction for an unconditional price.”

Mr Ersan also sold 41 Frederick St, St Peters today for $1.170 million with 20 people in the crowd.

Out west, Ray White Castle Hill's Joel Simpson and Daniel Llamas sold 16 Jarrah Place, Castle Hill for $2.085 million today in front of a crowd of 80 people with six registered bidders.

Ray White auctioneer James Kerley called the auction which kicked off at $1.8 million.

“Four of the bidders  were active and the vendors are the moon as they are now going to retire to the beach, they are having a sea change.” The textbook auction campaign saw about 60 groups through the property and 10 contracts issued. The new buyers are a local family upgrading.

Meanwhile Ray White Belmore Director Dean Vasil and Agent Kieran Gianoudis today sold 8/19-25 Flinders Rd, Earlwood for $957,000 with six registered bidders at the auction. Auctioneer Tim Snell took the first bid of $857,000 in the competitive duel with two active bidders.

“It was a great auction after a strong campaign. The buyers are a local couple and are upsizing after they kept missing out at auction,” Mr Vasil said.

Sellers Jeremy Cook and Sarah Conway (pictured above with the Ray White team)   were thrilled with the result.  “This was our first auction and we are delighted with the result. The guys were amazingly friendly and experienced professionals. We love the place but we just need more room as my wife and I are both working from home five days a week. I am at the dining room table working, and she is in the bedroom so I have to pack up every night so we can eat dinner!” Mr Cook said.

For winning buyers Karen Bywater (left) and her partner Penelope Lockley it was “lucky number five”.

“We have been actively looking since last August and this was our fifth auction we bid at. We have been reading such a lot of conflicting commentary in the media about prices falling but we haven't seen any of that, if anything prices are rising. The good places are receiving a lot of interest. We have noticed peaks and troughs in this market and right now the price guides are very accurate in the desirable areas,” Ms Bywater said.

“Every Thursday we wait in anticipation to see what comes onto the market as that's the day many agents seem to load their new stock online.   We have experienced a lot of auctions and will genuinely feel that Dean and Kieran and the auctioneer Tim ran a good auction today. We had our strategy as we have been to a few now and we've observed what works. It was lucky number five for us.”

Meanwhile in Melbourne, the traditional auction capital of Australia, it was a case of another beautiful spring day but the property market remained on ice due to its government-imposed restrictions. Ray White Victoria CEO Stephen Dullens said the one solitary auction on the books today, produced a cracker result for its owners.

Ray White Carnegie Sales Consultant Gerry Setiyadi and Auctioneer Tom Grieve (pictured in his garage) today sold 84 Rae Avenue in Edithvale under the hammer for a whopping $963,500, well over the reserve price at a virtual auction.

The online auction saw five registered bidders and three active bidders, all fighting it out from the comfort of their own living rooms, amid the government-imposed restrictions.

The brick home, owned by the same family for 25 years, was sold with approved plans to develop into two side by side townhouses. The winning bidders were developers who are looking to take advantage of the great location.

“The sellers are a downsizing couple, and they are incredibly happy with the result today after being naturally apprehensive about the COVID restrictions,” Mr Setiyadi said.

All the bidders at the auction today were sight unseen buyers, all having viewed the property only by virtual 3D tour.

“The virtual tours mean that buyers can inspect all angles of the property. It is the next best thing to seeing it in person.”

“We managed to have the virtual tour and photos done before the lockdown. We were hoping we would be out of lockdown a couple of weeks ago, but alas that was not the case. So we are thrilled that we were able to still get the result,” he said.

Mr Dullens said there has been much discussion during the week about inside versus outside activities, as well as the amount of time that people spend inside.

“Real estate is again an example of where inside time can be limited, where private inspections are booked for a maximum of 15 minutes (often much shorter) and again in spaces that allow total hygiene, social distancing, masks to be worn and 100 percent contact tracing,” Mr Dullens said.

“As Premier Andrews has suggested, now is not the time for large crowds at public, onsite auctions – something the industry completely agrees with.

“We continue to wait for feedback on any easing of restrictions for the real estate industry – the opportunity to engage with the government on a proactive basis and present the case on behalf of the industry has been welcomed.

“We know that thousands of Victorians who have no choice but to buy, sell or rent without the luxury of time are relying on Premier Andrews and his team for easing restrictions to allow private, one-on-one, contactless inspections – we sincerely hope they'll receive some positive news soon.”

Mr Dullens said it had been encouraging to see the Victorian Government open to adjust some business settings over the last week – particularly around beauty services and pet grooming.

“We absolutely all care for the welfare of our pets – but we also need to care for the emotional and financial welfare of our vulnerable Victorian real estate customers.”

In Brisbane, this three bedroom Bardon cottage at 73 Carey St sold today for $910,000. Marketed by Ray White Paddington agents Judi O'Dea and Michael Kleimeyer, the property has attracted interest from across Brisbane.   There were two registered bidders and the winner was a young local man.

Ms O'Dea said the seller had bought an apartment in the same suburb of bardon. “He's lived in the house for eight years and just loves the area.”

Ray White Queensland Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom said it had been an outstanding week of auction results in the sunshine state, with many properties seeing competitive bidding and the clearance rate reflecting that.

“We had a number of situations this week where the reserve price has been exceeded through natural bidding.  If you look at the market segments, we are seeing early $300,000 to late $400,000 units in the inner city of Brisbane performing well. We haven't seen that sort of activity in the market in a number of years,” Mr Peereboom said.

“Of course our traditional markets of $600,000 right through to $1,000,000 in that 15km ring of the CBD is absolutely red hot.

“What is interesting also is the high-end stock is moving beautifully. We have had some excellent results for the Gold Coast, particularly that southern end with our Tugun office and their auction event on Thursday night.

“Our rural and lifestyle properties have had a great few weeks. Paul White, Chairman of Ray White Rural, was commenting on how the first six months of this year has seen more trading than all of 2019 combined.

“Why wait until later in the year when conditions may change?”

In East Brisbane, after taking 47 groups through the door at lucky number 47 Fisher Street, Ray White Bulimba Principal Scott Darwon sold the home over reserve for $955,000.

The auction drew quite the crowd, and attracted seven registered bidders and five active bidders. The winning bidders, pictured here, were thrilled to come out on top and purchase their first home.

“The inner city housing market is as strong as ever before in Brisbane; that quality entry level price point is performing particularly well,” Mr Darwon said.

“We have also had strong interstate enquiry recently, but the locals are trying to beat them to it!”

Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said 23 the leading group dominating with almost 55 per cent of the market share this week in Adelaide.

“Last week we had a relatively low clearance rate of 50 per cent but we did have the second highest amount of auctions that we've called this year,” Mr Morris said.

“We are coming off a month where the clearance rate was 60 per cent. Bidding is still strong, with registered bidders 5.5.

“Coincidentally we had 111 auctions in August and we have 111 scheduled in September. We are looking forward to continuing to wave the yellow flag in South Australia for the rest of the year.”

Ray White Gawler / Willaston Sales Consultant Ross Whiston had a particularly special sale under the hammer at 5 Mellor Road in Glanville.

The deceased estate sale saw all auction proceeds going directly to the RSCPA. The home sold for $315,000, an impressive $30,000 over the reserve price.

“The late owner was a passionate animal lover so decided to leave all of his money to the RSCPA, who are going to be absolutely thrilled come settlement time,” Mr Whiston said.

“He was a well known gentleman who had lived in the Port area his whole life, and had no children of his own.”

The winning bidder was a developer who saw great potential in the land and was eager to get into the market.

“Stock levels are low at the moment, which is pushing buyers up. The buyer was very motivated as it's quite hard to outbid the competition in Adelaide at the moment.”

The campaign saw 27 groups through in two weeks and attracted 5 registered bidders on the day.

Continuing on with the success in South Australia, Ray White Campbelltown's Frank Carlesso and Amber Roantree sold a classic red brick home at 7 Oak Court for $515,000.

“The buyers were a couple from Melbourne, who had his Dad bidding on their behalf, because they obviously weren't able to be there themselves on the day,” Mr Carlesso said.

“The couple are originally from Adelaide but currently living in Melbourne, so they are looking forward to a homecoming.”

The sellers of the property were also thrilled with today's result, after feeling confident throughout the entire campaign.