Melbourne and Sydney home sales surge on

The traditionally strong spring property market will be a mixed bag, with Sydney and Melbourne expected to continue their surges while Brisbane falters and Perth lags.

Domain.com.au senior economist Andrew Wilson said spring was normally the biggest selling season as buyers and sellers aim to clinch deals and complete listings before the end of the year.

The superstar performer of the capital cities, Sydney, is expected to continue its strong performance, but might have a weaker season than earlier this year or this time last year when the market was accelerating.

"I think you'll find that the autumn market was the peak of the Sydney cycle, but nonetheless it's still quite a healthy spring market going forward," said Wilson.

Over winter, clearance rates backtracked to the mid-70 per cent range compared to the astounding 90 per cent rate seen in autumn.

"Buyers are starting to catch up with demand, they have more choice of properties and there's more competition among sellers so clearance rates are falling to a more balanced result," he said.

But it's certainly still a sellers' market in Sydney, says Wilson, who calculated that there'd be more than 800 auctions a weekend in the city for the rest of the month.

There appears to be no foreseeable end to demand comfortably outstripping supply, despite the banks bringing in harsher restrictions on investor loans to take some of the heat out of the market.

With price growth in Sydney tapering off, all eyes are now on Melbourne where the clearance rate has risen to just under 80 per cent and housing prices are still about 40 per cent lower than Sydney's $1 million median, as reported by domain.com.au.

First-home buyers are jumping on the affordable options, but watchers say there's also been pick-up around the mid-higher range properties.

"Melbourne has certainly strengthened and is holding the line," said Wilson.

He said Brisbane had disappointed expectations and was faltering while Perth would continue to shrink as the mining boom fades.

Despite the regional variations, the overall picture is one of healthy markets in key capitals Sydney and Melbourne, which have been strong enough to lift the national price average by 10.6 per cent in the past year, according to CoreLogic RP Data.

- AAP