"Beecroft is a tightly held suburb with limited opportunities to buy in the area – locals rushed in to purchase as a result," Mr Rees said.

Good day

It was a stellar day for Cooley Auctions on Saturday as well, with a clearance rate of 87 per cent across 67 homes. Of the 58 that sold, 24 sold prior to auction.

"The 34 were sold at auction for a combined $3.109 million over reserve which equates to an average of more than $90,000 over reserve for each property," auctioneer Damien Cooley said.

In Melbourne a preliminary auction clearance rate of 79 per cent was recorded with more than 1047 properties taken to auction.

A four-bedroom Victorian home in St Kilda East sold for $1.592 million after starting bids opened at $1.4 million. The auction for the 12 King Street home had more than 50 onlookers, said selling agent Hocking Stuart.

Buyers' advocate David Morrell said most reserves were being passed easily, even in the $2 to $4 million bracket.

"Are we in a bubble? Of course we are. It just depends who is caught with the parcel," he said. "But in my opinion, it is incredibly hard to buy because you cannot justify the prices," he said.


In Sydney's north shore, a three-bedroom Mosman home sold for $150,000 over reserve. There were four bidders for the 7 Lennox Street property. A local Sydney buyer paid $2.35 million for the house.

Selling agent Tim Foote of Belle Property said he did not expect the heat to come out of the Sydney market this winter.

"Buyer demand does not change over winter, supply does," he said. "There is more supply this year and and I think the things driving the housing sector at the end of the day remain."

There was a more than 20 per cent rise in listing numbers in both Sydney and Melbourne, compared with June last year, Dr Wilson said.

"We have unusual auction numbers for winter [in] the next couple of weeks and while clearance rates are coming down it remains a promising market for sellers."