CAPITAL city home auctions turned into hotly contested battle grounds last week after the national clearance rate reached its highest level in six years.

Core Logic RP Data figures showed the clearance rate hit 79.2 per cent, the second highest on record and only marginally lower than the record 79.7 per cent rate recorded in September 2009.

Capital cities hosted a total 2,541 auctions, up from the 1,674 the week prior, but the greater choice in homes for sale did nothing to stop aggressive bidding from buyers anxious for a home.

Last week was also the eighth time in 12 weeks that the national clearance rate was above 75 per cent — a mark signalling strong selling conditions.

Sydney real estate was the standout performer. Fast-paced auctions resulted in the city’s highest clearance rate ever, a staggering 88.3 per cent.

The fact that nearly nine in every 10 properties going to auction sold was made all the more impressive considering high reserve prices and a large volume of auctions: a mammoth 950 across the week.

The Melbourne auction market was also strong, ensuring 78.7 per cent of the 1252 homes going under the hammer sold.

The results followed in what has already been the strongest year for auctions in Victoria’s capital since 2010.

Melbourne’s best performing subregion was the outer east, where 93.2 per of homes going to auction sold.

Adelaide auctions also produced good results for vendors with a clearance rate of 70.5 per cent.

The clearance rate in Brisbane was 48.3 per cent, the second highest rate recorded this year after the 54.4 per cent recorded the week prior.

Arguably the nation’s most hotly contested auction was the sale of a 1950s weatherboard home in Melbourne’s Glen Waverley, which sold for $500,000 above the vendor’s price hopes.

The three-bedroom weatherboard house had been in the same family for three decades and the $1.705 million sale price was a stark contrast to the $53,000 price they paid 32 years ago.

Barry Plant-Monash auctioneer Sam Rosello said peeling paintwork, rotting timbers and rusted gutters did not deter the buyer, who saw potential in the 721sq m block of land to demolish the old home and rebuild.

The sellers of a four-bedroom home in Sydney suburb West Ryde also got a welcome surprise when their property sold under the hammer for $210,000 above their expectations.

The $1.63 million winning bid sent shock waves among the 300 people attending the auction, who had watched bidding start at $1.2 million.

Anyone attending the auction of a five-bedroom home in Sydney inner west suburb Haberfield would have also been surprised when bidding started at a whopping $3 million.

The property eventually sold for just over $3.96 million, a record for the area.

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