Professional surfer Wade Goodall and wife Jane were among the many vendors who pulled their property from weekend auction, as the auction sales wipeout continues.

The couple are seeking buyers for their Byron Bay hinterland home having recently secured a larger block nearby to build a new house.

McGrath Ballina agent Braden Walters had a pre-auction guide of between $1,075,000 to $1.15 million for the modern Bangalow cottage.

Wade, who is an ambassador with surf fashion label Vans, spent $300,000 in 2014 on the Palm-Lily Crescent building block.

Set some 13 kilometres inland from the coast, their classic Queenslander-style home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study nook.

Sydney accounts for the biggest number of withdrawn auction properties.

Weekend withdrawals totalled 95 properties, with 58 in Sydney, according to Domain.

Over the past month, CoreLogic calculated around 20 per cent of auction stock had been withdrawn from auction across Sydney, as the wave of buyer enthusiasm wanes.

There were 1316 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 56.2 per cent, according to CoreLogic. 

Auction volumes were down from last week when 1536 auctions were held. However the preliminary clearance rate edged higher than last week’s final clearance rate, which was 55.6 per cent. 

Over the same week last year, auction volumes were higher with 1857 homes returning a clearance rate of 68.2 per cent.

Melbourne’s dearest house sale was $3.88 million at Fitzroy North through Jellis Craig. The 1891 home on 584 square metres is known as Moss Vale and last sold in 1977 for $100,000.

The 225 McKean Street offering had come with a $3.4 million to $3.7 million price guide, based on the recent $3.8 million sale at 25 McKean Street, an unrenovated home on 600 square metres.

Melbourne’s dearest sale, of any kind, was a development site at 71-73 Beddoe Avenue, Clayton which was listed with $3.4 million to $3.74 million hopes. With two original three-bedroom houses on a 1483-square-metre lot, it fetched $4,258,000.

In Melbourne, a preliminary auction clearance rate of 57.9 per cent was recorded across 628 auctions, down slightly from 58.5 per cent across 802 auctions on the last weekend in July.

One year ago, the Melbourne clearance rate was a stronger 73.9 per cent across 911 auctions.

The Victorian capital also had Australia’s cheapest sale when a $280,000 pre-auction offer was accepted in Ormond for a one-bedroom apartment. Last sold at $112,000 in 1999, 11/50 Lillimur Road had recently been a $280-a-week rental.

It had been listed with $250,000 to $270,000 price guidance through Woodards.

There were 456 auctions held in Sydney, the fourth consecutive week where Sydney has been host to less than 500 auctions, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 56.1 per cent.

One year ago, 620 auctions had a clearance rate of 66.4 per cent.

Sydney’s highest sale was 5 Alfred Street, Bronte at $4,116,000. The deceased estate executors were flexible on their $4.2 million price expectation.

Adelaide had the weekend’s best performing clearance rate with a 73.2 per cent success rate across 56 auctions.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer