Over the past weekend, Sydney and Melbourne witnessed very strong property sales, increasing expectations for the remainder of the year, which has already seen “unprecedented” figures.

According to Australian Property Monitors, the weekend clearance rate in Melbourne was a whopping 76.9 per cent, with 1,362 properties listed, and 922 auctioned – of which 714 sold.

Total sales reached $438.8 million and median prices for auctioned houses was $809,250 and units $506,750.

In Sydney, the clearance rate was 83.2 per cent, with 689 properties listed and 459 auctioned, of which 400 sold.

Related: Hip-hop agent sends SA house listing viral

APM reports that total sales reached $352.3 million and median prices for auctioned houses was $1 million and $650,000 for units.

House prices in Sydney have been in focus of late after moving into what the experts say is “unchartered territory”.

The median house price in the city surged past $700,000 for the first time over the September quarter to $722,718.

But the competitive market has not stopped one Sydneysider from putting his five-year-old son on the city’s property ladder.

Sydney Morning Herald reports that property lawyer Dion Vertzayas has bought a $710,000 unit for his young son Dean as a surprise birthday present.

While Dean is unlikely to move into the Potts Point home until around 2025, Vertzayas said he “needed to act quickly” to ensure his son was not priced out further.

Related: Should kids pay rent to their parents?

“There is only limited stock in Sydney and he’s turning six next month. It is going to be a surprise for his birthday,” he said.

“When he is at university he can have it as his place and he can commute from there to wherever he wants to study or work.”

But Vertzayas is not the only parent to help his kid get a feel for the property market. Fairfax reports that TV and radio personality Tim Webster made his sons, aged 22 and 24, pay his mortgage as low-risk way to help them get into the property market.

Australia’s hottest suburbs