Sydney's property clearance rate soared to a two-year high at the weekend, while savage weather and the bushfire crisis took a heavy toll on the Melbourne market, where sales crashed to record lows.

In Sydney, the clearance rate was 71%, 15 percentage points higher than on the corresponding weekend last year and 21 points higher than the previous weekend.

Analysts have suggested the first bounce in the stagnant property market will occur in Sydney, particularly in the western suburbs mortgage belt.

The spike in Sydney came after the Reserve Bank last week reduced official interest rates by one percentage point to 3.25 per cent, the lowest in 45 years, and the Government's boost to the first-home buyers' grant.

The Australian