The 2018 autumn selling season saw fewer bidders at its weekend auctions, which triggered a marked decline in clearance rates along with property prices beginning to fall.

On the final autumn weekend, agents secured a national clearance rate of 59.7 per cent, according to CoreLogic, which was well down on summer’s final weekend when 70.5 per cent of stock was sold in late February.

The gardening guru television host Brendan Moar is among the last-minute autumn listings with his Camperdown home going to auction next weekend, before the cyclical winter listings hibernation takes effect from the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.

Moar’s four-bedroom home is a fusion of futuristic modernist styles, according to the marketing by the BresicWhitney Glebe agents Chris Nunn and Nick Playfair.

They describe the home as a one-off poolside entertainer spanning three levels.

A top-floor main retreat comes with a roof garden.

Moar paid $1.265 million in 2009 for the home that is scheduled for a June 2 auction with a price guide of $2.5 million.

The garden recently featured on The Living Room on Channel 10.

Sydney had the nation’s dearest weekend result. It was a parkside lagoon four-bedroom house at Manly.

The 53 Eurobin Avenue offering sold to a Singaporean, according to Fairfax Media, for $4.615 million – just above its $4.5 million expectations – through Clarke and Humel agent Michael Clarke.

Melbourne had the nation’s cheapest sale.

The $225,000 sale was a one-bedroom unit at Gladstone Park. The 20/16 South Circular Road offering last sold in 2016 at $185,000. It had been listed with $190,000 to $209,000 price guidance.

It was offered on a secure fixed lease until January 2019 at $978 per calendar month. It comes with a covenant stating that its occupier – but not necessarily its owner – must be 55 years of age or older, the marketing agent advised.

The most expensive Melbourne house was Granada, a five-bedroom house at St Kilda. The 28 Eildon Road property, a 1928-built five-bedroom Spanish Mission trophy home, sold through Marshall White for $4 million.

The buyers guide was $2.7 million to $2.9 million.

It last sold for $885,000 in 1998.

Adelaide recorded the highest capital city clearance rate of 66 per cent, with only 31 per cent of homes sold in Perth.

Melbourne recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 60 per cent.

Sydney, with 808 auctions held across the city, returned a 62 per cent preliminary clearance rate.

CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan expected final results to be lower after unreported auctions were added to the calculation.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver told Domain that finalised clearance rates in the low 50 per cent range had been historically associated with falling prices.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer