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

Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”

Home Auction Markets Re-Focus

The auction markets remain clearly in favour of sellers.

The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.