The Prestia family are selling their renovated Clareville house at auction Saturday. Picture: Toby Zerna
Larger houses in the Canterbury-Bankstown area, lower north shore and other pockets close to the CBD have been getting the best results at auction since the COVID-19 crisis began.
Auction clearance rates in these areas were the highest in the city over the past three months, with three in four auctions producing a sale in the suburbs of Cremorne, Leichhardt and Revesby.
Auctions also delivered stronger results in Wollstonecraft, Bondi, North Bondi, Elizabeth and Alexandria, where about two thirds of auctions were a success, according to a CoreLogic review of the past quarter of sales.
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The higher clearance rates in these areas generally indicated buyers were competing for a small pool of available properties – considered favourable conditions for auctions.
It was a different story in much of the rest of the city, where auctions tended to get mixed results.
The lowest suburb clearance rates were recorded in Botany and Cronulla in Sydney’s south, where less than 30 per cent of auctions were a success for the vendors.
Sellers also generally struggled to get success under the hammer in Parramatta, Rosebery, Marsfield, Redfern and Mascot, where clearance rates were about 33 per cent.
CoreLogic noted the predominant outcome for failed auction campaigns was a seller converting their auction to a private sale.
The pandemic initially sparked a mass cancellation of auctions in April after on-site sales and public open for inspections were banned. Withdrawals began to ease after the bans were lifted in May.
The result was that only about half the Sydney properties originally scheduled to go under the hammer over the past three months actually sold at auction.
The withdrawals, which are counted as unsuccessful auctions, dragged Greater Sydney’s auction clearance rate over the June quarter to 51.5 per cent.
The Sydney-wide auction clearance rate in the preceding three months was 66 per cent and over the same period in 2019 it was just under 60 per cent.
My Housing Market economist Andrew Wilson said the auction market was weaker compared to long-term trend but still relatively strong given how hard the coronavirus pandemic hit the wider economy.
“(The market) is shaping well if you consider we’ve been through a black swan event,” he said. “The prospects are for a reasonable market going ahead.”
Auctioneer Damien Cooley said there was a flight to quality properties. Picture: Gaye Gerard
Cooley Auctions director Damien Cooley said upsizing families were the most active buyers in the market and larger properties that appealed to them – generally houses with backyards – tended to get the best results.
Vendors of family-friendly properties were also helped by a lack of seller competition because few other houses were available for sale in some areas, Mr Cooley said.
McGrath-Avalon selling agent Jonathan Fletcher said sellers could often improve their sales prospects with good presentation. “Buyers want properties that are ready to move into,” he said.
Home sellers Leah and Rob Prestio, who operate renovation company Presto Property Solutions, will be taking their Clareville home to auction on Saturday and said they were feeling confident.
The Prestia family’s home has attracted plenty of buyer groups. Picture: Toby Zerna
They did multiple rounds of renovations on the Hudson Pde property and their “turnkey” offering attracted plenty of buyer groups through the open for inspections, Ms Prestio said.
“No one wants to pay top dollar and still have to renovate,” she said, adding that many of the homes they noticed were for sale were not presented in the best light.
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