Sydney And Melbourne’s Clearance Rates Slide
However strong results persist nationwide.
By Terry Christodoulou
Mon, Apr 12, 2021 10:22am
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Auction markets resumed on Saturday following last weekend’s pause in activity for the Easter holiday break.
Clearance rates continued to reflect boom-time market conditions in all capitals however Melbourne and Sydney were well down on recent weekend results posting 79.1% and 82.4% clearance respectively.
Sydney, while strong at 82.4%, was well below the 90.4% recorded a fortnight ago and reported the lowest clearance rate since the 81.1% recorded on Saturday January 30.
Auction numbers in the Harbour City remained robust with 785 listings while the median price for houses sold at auction on the weekend of $1,550,000 was only 1.4% lower than the previous fortnight’s results.
Melbourne fell to a year low after the Easter holiday break reporting a rate of 79.1%. A total of 905 homes were listed for auction which, while healthy, produced a median price of $945,750 for houses sold at auction on the weekend, down 6.8% from Super Saturday.
However, despite Sydney and Melbourne’s slip, Brisbane performed well at 90.7%, while Adelaide (86.4%) and Canberra (92.5%) continued to surge.
Across the nation listings numbers were also, predictably lower compared to the auctions conducted over Super Saturday a fortnight ago, with markets slowed by school holidays.
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.”
