ARIA award-winning singer Missy Higgins has sold her Melbourne home, a red brick warehouse conversion, cashing in on the generous mood among buyers at the start of 2016.

Higgins paid $1.8 million in mid-2012 for the property but the home was listed with $2.1 million hopes. Reports on Sunday suggested the home at 21a Mollison Street, Abbotsford, set a short walk to the Yarra River, Studley Park and Victoria Street shops, fetched more than $2.2 million.

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“The market is rocking strong at all levels on almost all properties,” said Melbourne buyers agent Mal James.

“Only C grade stock is failing and that is almost always a function of seller opinion versus market opinion on the price,” he said.

One of the living areas of Missy Higgins’ inner Melbourne home.

The lower of two balconies in the warehouse, located in Abbotsford.

The spacious kitchen and meals area enjoyed by Higgins.

The big end

Three sales above $6 million kept the trophy home markets turning over nicely, with agents in Sydney and Melbourne now complaining they don’t have the prestige stock to match buyer demand.

There was a $6.45 million Mosman pre-auction sale which the Simeon Manners agency declared for its 61a Muston Street offering.

The facade of the Boston Road, Balwyn property.

In Armadale, the price of the under-the-hammer sale of 12 Barnato Grove through Kay & Burton, was not released publicly.

But attendees said it was sold at $6.74 million with four bidders no doubt attracted to the cutting edge five bedroom home set in Nathan Burkett designed gardens that featured in ‘100 Australian Gardens & Landscapes.’

There’d been initial $4.5 million-plus price guidance.

A pre-auction modern four bedroom Balwyn home sale presumably took third place on the sales’ podium as it was listed with $6 million plus aspirations, selling at an undisclosed price well ahead of the weekend auction.

Piermont, at 4 Boston Road, was a newly completed Phillip Mannerheim-designed home, with eight car basement garage, in the suburb’s omnipresent Chateau-style.

The nation’s cheapest weekend result was a house in the Brisbane suburb of Marsden. The $267,000 sale at 10 Birch Street secured a three bedroom house which last sold at $90,000 in 1993. It fell short of the $285,000 asking price when listed by private treaty last November.

10 Birch Street, Marsden, QLD: The cheapest house to be sold at auction in Australia over the weekend.

With less stock on the market there were more sales at higher than reserve than in previous weeks.

Wildly exceding expectations, in Sydney’s Kingsford, an unrenovated, three-bedroom house attracted 27 bidders who forced the price to $3,065,000 – $1,065,000 over its reserve.

It traded in 2008 for just $1,015,000 with NG Farah selling agent Glenn Farah saying the weekend result at 6 Forsyth Street was “out of line” with other results in the area.

The auction of a classic Pettit and Sevitt house at West Pennant Hills, where seven parties lodge 68 bids before the hammer fell at $1,237,500 for the unrenovated house at 31 Eaton Road – $237,500 more than the reserve.

Clearance rate slips

There were fewer auctions held this week across the capital cities – 2,253 compared to last week’s 2,701, and the clearance rate fell from 71 per cent last week to 68 per cent this week, according to CoreLogic RP Data.

This week’s result marked the first time below the 70 per cent mark this year.

Volumes will head lower next week due to the Labour Day public holiday in Melbourne where auction clearance rates sat at 70 per cent, having fallen from 74 per cent last week, with clearance rates ranging from 75.2 per cent in North East Melbourne to 62.5 per cent in Outer East Melbourne.

In Sydney, clearance rates fell to 68 per cent this week from 72 per cent last week. Over the week, 684 auctions were held across the city, down from 919 last week and also lower than the 944 that went under the hammer last year.

The inner regions of Sydney have maintained strength this week, with City and Inner South (81.3 per cent), Ryde (80.7 per cent) and Northern Beaches (78 per cent) showing the strongest auction clearance rates for the week.

Brisbane’s preliminary results show 52.3 per cent of auctions and across the Gold Coast, a preliminary clearance rate of 32.4 per cent was recorded this week.

Canberra had the nation’s best clearance rate at 71 per cent this week with prices between $287,000 for a $380 a week, 1990s Kingston flat rental and a $2,585,000 four bedroom home in Forrest.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor-at-large at Property Observer