Record May Auction Listings Bring Strong Results
Pre-Budget home sellers took advantage of insatiable buyer’s appetite.
By Terry Christodoulou
Mon, May 10, 2021 10:54am
2 min
2 min
Auction results from Saturday, May 8, saw a number of sellers attempt to cash in on what is still a boomtime market.
A May record of 2563 auctions were reported in auction capitals on Saturday – an increase of 12.2% over the previous weekend and the second-highest offering of the year so far, only behind the Super Saturday auctions of Match 27.
Clearance rates in all capitals eased from the record-breaking March results, yet are still very strong in light of high auction numbers with an average clearance rate of 83.1% – just below the 83.3% of the previous weekend
The Auction markets will be further strengthened by the Federal Budget announcements which signal significant stimulus policies aimed directly at housing demand and first home buyers.
Sydney’s high autumn clearance rates have faded marginally compared to the results recorded in March. However, the market still favours the seller with a clearance rate of 83.5% posted in the harbour city, just below 84.6% and well above the 71.3% recorded this weekend last year.
A Sydney May record of 1014 auctions was reported on Saturday, with the city recording a median price of $1,650,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend, which was 3.7% higher than the $1,595,000 reported over the previous Saturday and 34% higher than the $1,231,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne fared similarly with a month-high weekend clearance rate of 80.7%, up on the previous weekend’s 80.1% and well ahead of the COVID-impacted 48.2% recorded over the same weekend last year.
A total of 1248 homes were reported listed for auction on Saturday – well above the 1084 auctioned over the previous weekend.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $1,050,000 for houses sold at auction on the weekend, which was 4.9% higher than the $1,001,000 recorded over the previous weekend.
Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson of MyHousingMarket.com.au
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The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.
By Liz Lucking
Mon, Jul 13, 2026 2 min
2 min
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.”
