The week leading up to Easter is traditionally a very busy time of year with the volume of auctions increasing dramatically. However it's not just the volume that's increased, Director of Cooley Auctions, Damien Cooley says - our auction clearance rates have also risen dramatically. In the last 3 days we have auctioned 59 properties and sold 44 - an impressive clearance rate of 74.6%. This has been a solid test to gauge the market's response to the increased volume. Last night we packed the Double Bay Auction Centre, with 13 properties going under the hammer and 12 selling giving us a clearance rate of 92.3% for the night - an outstanding result.

There seems to be some sense of urgency in the market and not just from first home buyers. In fact, the market has performed extremely well over the past 14 days and it's clear that both in-room and on-site auctions have a real buzz about them at the moment.

A number of properties recently sold well above expectations. These sales included 9 Allens Parade, Bondi Junction, which sold for $1.89m through LCE Real Estate Director Paul Langsam and 3/25 The Avenue, Rose Bay, which sold for $620,000 through LJ Levi Real Estate agent Dasha Goldman. On Saturday we sold a home at 40a Gardyne Street, Bronte, through GoodyerDonnelley Real Estate for a brilliant result of $3.7m - a result that was hundreds of thousands of dollars above its reserve.