Prices for blocks of land with development potential pushed ahead of other property categories at Melbourne auctions held on the weekend.

But the city's auction market tossed up the lowest Saturday clearance rate of the year so far, with the inner city region managing a clearance rate of just 66.7 per cent, well below other regions of metropolitan Melbourne.

Overall, Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 76.6 per cent at the weekend, according to auction results collected by the Domain Group. This was lower than the 79.7 per cent recorded on the previous weekend and marginally ahead of the 75.2 per cent recorded on the same weekend last year.

Demolish and rebuild sites scored high prices in the inner eastern and bayside suburbs. These properties also tended to attract greater buyer depth compared to the bidder numbers seen at auctions of period homes on Saturday, although there were several runaway sales of modernised Victorian and Edwardian houses.

Buyers looking to redevelop a good-sized allotment with an old house into a new home held sway at two auctions in Mckinnon and Glen Iris. Each sale drew offers from six bidders and in both cases hefty competition followed, producing strong above-reserve prices.

Hodges Real Estate director Campbell Cooney said an art deco home with a tennis court on 905 square metres at 75 Wright Street, McKinnon, sold under the hammer for $2.3 million.

"It's the highest price paid for a block of land in the street by a margin of $150,000," he said.

Mr Cooney said that developable land was the hottest commodity in the market and demand for it was strongest among buyers looking to knock down an existing dwelling and construct a single new home. Developers keen to purchase land for unit or townhouse projects were also very active.

"There are lots of bidders for land," Mr Cooney said.

Since 2012, Melbourne has seen a sustained run of growth in real estate prices, especially in the inner and middle-ring suburbs, but also in some outlying regions, such as the outer east.

The growth spurt is changing the way buyers view purchasing property.

The harsh fact is that the cost of land now makes up a far bigger proportion of the value of any property compared to the situation only five or 10 years ago.

The existing building on a land site is becoming an increasingly small fraction of the overall value. This is making it attractive to knock over and replace relatively new houses. In some suburbs, it's also giving a price advantage to allotments that aren't subject to council heritage overlays.

At the weekend, Marshall White had no trouble finding a buyer for an old house/big land offering at 1 Estella Street, Glen Iris. On the market at $2.7 million, the 1064-square-metre property sold for $2.92 million with the competition from six bidders delivering a $220,000 above-reserve premium to the vendor.

Marshall White director John Bongiorno said fewer blocks like this were coming onto the market.

"There are not many blocks that ever come up for sale," he said. "And now with heritage laws, it is vastly more complicated to knock down an existing property or come across vacant land than what it was five or 10 years ago."

Land value considerations are increasingly weighty factors for buyers of period homes, too.

This was clear at Jellis Craig's auction on Saturday of a smartly renovated and extended four-bedroom house at 29 Oak Street, Hawthorn built in 1904.

About 120 onlookers attended the sale, but despite firm and confident bidding from three parties, none would push past the reserve. Auctioneer Campbell Ward passed in the house to a family for $3.85 million. After negotiations, the 595-square-metre property sold for a little more - $3.9 million.

Mr Ward said it was a reasonable result for the size of the block.

He noted that some buyers would have compared the Oak Street property to a large double-fronted house on 1136 square metres at 25 Fermanagh Road, Camberwell. He said the Camberwell property sold at auction through Marshall White on Saturday for $4,050,000, just $150,000 more than the 29 Oak Street.

"There is no doubt that the top end market has softened a little bit," Mr Ward added.

Some 876 properties were reported sold at the weekend and the results of a further 252 auctions were not reported.

Domain Group data shows the northern suburbs are continuing to rev up Melbourne sales. The north east region outperformed other regions on the weekend with a weekend clearance rate of 82.9 per cent. It was followed by the north with 81.5 per cent.

The inner south cleared 76.6 per cent of its auction properties, while the inner east cleared 76.5 per cent. The low result for the inner city region - 66.7 per cent - suggests that some sales may be being held back as buyers adjust to the state government's new quoting regime for listed residential properties.

Mr Cooney said there was a fair bit of confusion around the new Consumer Affairs Victoria quoting rules and what prices agents should quote.

"The number of people who have been inquiring about and inspecting properties seems to be a bit down when the pre (or quote) prices are clear," he said.

"Half the prospects think they have to add 10 or 20 per cent and half of them think the quote price is as it should be, so you are getting some confusion."