THE depressed national real estate market is expected to remain flat for at least the next three months, with the arrival of winter prompting the usual drop in the number of properties for sale.

The first weekend of winter saw significantly fewer houses up for auction in the bigger markets of Sydney and Melbourne, with 409 and 761 properties listed in the two cities respectively, down from 545 and 841 the previous week.

Auction clearance rates remained steady, with 54.7 per cent of listed Sydney properties selling under the hammer — slightly down from last week’s 56 per cent — while Melbourne’s clearance rate was 56.3 per cent, down from 57.7 per cent.

Clearance rates in Brisbane and Adelaide were also sluggish compared with the previous week.

On the corresponding weekend last year, Sydney had an auction clearance rate of 63.9 per cent, while Melbourne reported a 62.5 per cent success rate.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

Australian Property Monitors senior economist Andrew Wilson said that while winter was traditionally the quietest period of the year for the real estate industry, there were already signs that the market could be “reinvigorated” towards the end of the year.

“There is still a disconnect between the expectations of buyers and sellers, and it remains a buyers’ market,” Dr Wilson said. “But I think the gap (between expectations) is narrowing, and the market may well be reinvigorated by the time spring rolls around.”

The most expensive property to be sold at auction over the weekend was a three-bedroom house on the waterfront in Sydney’s Five Dock that went for $3 million.

At the other end of the scale, a three-bedroom house in Adelaide’s Craigmore sold for $181,000.