Strong housing demand boosts Australian auction clearance rates

Strong demand in Sydney and Melbourne markets has boosted Australia's national housing auction clearance rate to 79 percent, new figures revealed Monday.

RP Data said the preliminary national clearance rate was higher than the previous Easter weekend of 77.4 percent, with clearance rates running at their strongest level in six years.

Sydney's clearance rate rose 0.2 percent to 84.8 percent and Melbourne's rate fell by 0.8 percent to 77.7 percent. Clearances in Brisbane rose to 50.9 percent from 45.6 percent the weekend before Easter.

Melbourne has experienced the biggest rise in auction clearances over the past year, with the clearance rate up 13.3 percent over the past year. Sydney's clearance rate is 10.0 percent higher over the past year.