It doesn’t appear that Steve Jacobs will backtrack on his decision to move with his family to Vanuatu anytime soon, with the former Today weatherman putting his Coogee mansion up for lease.

Jacobs, 50, and his wife Rose are asking $3500 a week for the four-bedroom Sydney property, Realestate.com.au reported.

The couple paid $2.55 million for the modern contemporary home in 2011.

The three-level house also includes three bathrooms, while the outdoor entertaining area comes with a gas-heated, salt-water swimming pool.

Steve Jacobs’ place will cost $3500 to rent. Photo: Ballard Property

The contemporary home is spread over three levels. Photo: Ballard Property

Ballard Property real estate agent Helena Colnaric said the home would be well suited for a family.

Jacobs announced his decision to quit his TV role in December to spend more time with his wife and their two daughters Isabella and Francesca.

Meanwhile, with the backdrop of housing affordability a key issue for the federal budget on Tuesday night, a compact Chelsea townhouse in Melbourne’s seaside suburb was in the spotlight as the nation’s most affordable weekend sale.

The vacant one-bedroom property, set 30 kilometres out of the CBD, fetched $273,000.

It had last sold at $147,000 in 2005, which in itself represented a surge from its prior $55,000 sale eight years earlier in 1997. That highlights recent CoreLogic research suggesting that despite the hype and headlines surrounding the recent boom in capital city dwelling values, that price growth was actually subdued compared to past decades.

This townhouse in Melbourne’s Chelsea was a bargain. Photo: Thomson Real Estate

Sydney ranks as the only capital city that has recorded a greater increase in values so far this decade compared to the previous decade, the research advised.

The latest commentary on Sydney’s affordability came via a weekend Facebook posting by Senator Sam Daystari with some 370,000 plus views by Sunday evening.

Sydney’s cheapest weekend auction sale was $502,500 for a three-bedroom house at Windsor, in the outskirts, in the Hawkesbury district.

Almost doubling in price over its nine-year ownership, the cottage had last traded at $255,000 in 2008, and previously at $257,000 in 2005, showing that prices can fall too.

It had doubled in price from $110,000 to $220,000 between 2000 and boom time 2003.

The nation’s top reported weekend result was 60 kilometres away when a restored 1890s Newtown terrace house sold pre-auction for $3.8 million.

The 66 Watkin Street inner Sydney terrace, that now overlooks a glamorous backyard swimming pool, traded unrenovated at $1,883,000 in 2009.

The property was offered through Ray White agents Ercan Ersan and Shaun Stoker who had initial $3 million price guidance.

This Newton home offers an extravagant entertaining terrace which overlooks a lavish swimming pool and garden. Photo: Ray White

The property sold for almost $4 million. Photo: Ray White

Adelaide, often ranked as the cheapest mainland capital city, saw prices range from $290,000 to $991,000.

The top sale was a four-bedroom home on a hillside 2413 square metre block at Eden Hills.

Eden Hills home in Adelaide fetched a high price. Photo: Harris

The $290,000 Aldinga Beach sale was a 1970s townhouse that had been a $250 a week rental when last offered vacant three years ago.

The national clearance rate held firm around 74 per cent on lower auction activity in the first week of May, according to CoreLogic’s latest report.

Rapidly falling volumes appear to have underpinned the national auction clearance rate as buyer hesitancy begins to emerge given rising interest rates and overheated markets.

The property data firm says that this week, 1662 capital city auctions were held and preliminary results show that 1365 auctions have been reported so far, with a preliminary clearance rate of 74.6 per cent, rising from a final clearance rate of 74 per cent last week across 2350 auctions.

Clearance rates remain above the long-term average across the largest capital cities, but the rolling four-week average reveals a softening trend in Sydney’s final clearance rate.

Both Sydney and Melbourne maintain their place as the strongest auction markets.

This week’s combined capital city preliminary clearance rate is stronger than one year ago, when 67.7 per cent of capital city properties cleared, however auction volumes are lower than this time last year when 2230 homes were taken to auction.

Across Melbourne, 782 homes were taken to auction and preliminary results show a clearance rate of 78.4 per cent, up slightly from last week’s final clearance rate of 78.1 per cent across 1226 auctions.

Melbourne’s top sale was $3.7 million in Balwyn for a home with 500 sqm of living space. It was a five-bedroom home with study and six bathrooms, built in the French provincial style on its 740 sqm Metung Street block.

The vendors had unsuccessfully sought $3.9 million at its June 2016 auction.

It first sold as a new-build in 2011 at $2.82 million.

The Balwyn home sold for $3.7 million. Photo: MICM Real Estate

The house includes an enormous front lounge with gas log fireplace, formal dining, and a light-filled family and meals zone. Photo: MICM Real Estate

Sydney was host to 585 auctions, down from 811 last week and 676 at the same time last year.

A preliminary clearance rate of 77.8 per cent was recorded, representing an increase from last week’s 74.3 per cent and higher than one year ago (71.8 per cent).

There were 105 auctions held across Brisbane, down from 124 last week, and significantly lower than one year ago (195).

Preliminary results for the city show that 60.8 per cent of auctions were successful this week, up from 52.9 per cent last week.

Brisbane’s cheapest weekend result was $355,000 in Zillmere, for a home on a 610 sqm block of land. The 1970-build three-bedroom home with 95 sqm of living space had been last traded in 1977 at $27,450, so reflected 6.6 percent annual growth over the four decades.

This was Brisbane’s cheapest sale for the weekend. Photo: Realsales Real Estate

A total of 95 auctions were held in Adelaide this week, up from 83 last week, and similar to last year (94).

Preliminary results for the weekend show 66.7 per cent sold across Adelaide, up from 63.5 per cent last week.

There were 56 auctions held in Canberra and the preliminary clearance rate was 65.3 per cent, down from 68.3 per cent last week.

Like several other capitals, Canberra’s cheapest offering was a townhouse. It was a three-bedroom Amaroo duplex townhouse that fetched $430,000, having come with $399,000 plus price guidance from LJ Hooker. It had last sold at $382,000 in 2010.

Jonathan Chancellor is the editor at large at Property Observer.