Decline Sydney And Melbourne Clearance Rates

Auction clearance rates in the dominant markets of Sydney and Melbourne dipped at the weekend.

The number of listings also fell significantly in most capitals compared to the previous weekend, with the exception of Adelaide where listings surged to the highest number (111) of the year.

The Sydney home auction market produced another relatively strong result of 85.1% sell through. However, the clearance rate was down on the previous weekend (86.2%), and well below March’s record results.

Sydney auction numbers were also lower at the weekend – possibly impacted by the ANZAC Day holiday – with 672 homes listed compared to 785 the previous weekend. Saturday saw the lowest offering since early March, with the exception of Easter.

Sydney recorded a median price of $1,449,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend, 7.1% lower than the $1,560,000 reported the previous weekend.

Elsewhere, Melbourne’s auction clearance rate fell for the third consecutive weekend to 79.0%, down on last weekend’s 79.7% and the lowest recorded for the year.

A mere 835 homes were reported listed for auction on Saturday in Melbourne, well below the 1062 auctioned the previous weekend, and the lowest non-holiday offering since February.

Melbourne recorded a median price of $975,000 for houses sold at auction on the weekend, 2.5% lower than the $999,900 recorded a week earlier.

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.”

Decline Sydney And Melbourne Clearance Rates

Numbers take a tumble despite maintained market buoyancy.

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