Clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne on the weekend were around 80%, and better-than-expected prices were a standout feature, suggesting that property markets in the nation's two largest cities could be heading back into boom territory.

Sydney's clearance rate on the weekend was 81.6%, according to CoreLogic. Melbourne's clearance rate was 79.9%.

Both markets' strong clearance rates reflect a continued shortage of properties for sale. A total of 1,444 properties went to auction around the country on the weekend, compared with 2,118 for the same time last year, according to CoreLogic.

In Sydney, only 610 properties went to auction on the weekend, which is two-thirds of the volume recorded for the same time last year. The number of new listings on the market in Sydney is down 25% from last year at 5,902, and the number of new listings in Melbourne, at 6,871, is down 16% on last year, according to CoreLogic. 

There were also better-than-expected prices achieved for many properties.

The top auction result in Sydney on the weekend was a Hunters Hill riverfront home designed by Alex Popov, which sold for $5.15 million. The result was $750,000 higher than the reserve, and $1.3 million higher than the $3.85 million the property sold for only two years ago.

"It's a relatively affordable price for that side of Hunters Hill for a waterfront home," Savills agent Adam Ross told The Australian Financial Review, who sold the house in conjunction with Bresic Whitney's Nicholas McEvoy.

"The bigger prices tend to be pulled on the peninsula. This a record for the non-peninsula side."

Ross also said Sydney buyers had given up waiting to see if the market would soften.

"Toward the end of last year the buyers did pull back a bit. Things were not selling. Buyers were saying, 'this is not sustainable, surely things will soften'," he said.

"The reality is, it didn't soften. People are realising that and so the traction has picked back up again. I will be interested to see how much stock comes to market in spring and whether demand will eat up supply."

The most affordable property sold at auction on the weekend was a one-bedroom unit at Kogarah, which sold for $400,000 by McGrath Brighton-Le-Sands.

The most expensive property sold in Melbourne was a six-bedroom home in Kew, which sold for $6.5 million by Jellis Craig.

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