Auctioneer Stu Benson at a Kenthurst property that sold for $620,000 over reserve.
You’d think it would be an extreme buyer’s market but Sydney home sellers netted some surprisingly high results at auction this week given the current economic climate.
Housing experts said the sales were a warning that a so-called “September cliff” characterised by a crash in prices was looking increasingly unlikely.
There were close to 780 auctions scheduled for the week, roughly a quarter more than last week and 32 per cent more than over the same week last year. About two thirds were expected to be a success for the vendors – in line with last week’s auction clearance rate.
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Among the standout auctions was for a waterfront home with a private jetty and yard that backs directly onto Dolans Bay in the Sutherland Shire. It sold under the hammer for $4.43m.
The multi-level, four-bedroom house on a 1644sqm block on Port Hacking Rd went to market with a $4m-$4.4m price guide and sold near the vendor’s reserve.
The view from the Dolans Bay property on Port Hacking Rd.
Three bidders registered with McGrath selling agent Murray Cole but the offers were initially slow to get started. The auction opened on a vendor bid of $3.7m.
Retired vendor Brian Norman was reported to be “ecstatic” with the result. The buyers were a family from Gymea.
Mr Cole said bidding was “fast and furious” once it got going. “In this price bracket, the market is solid,” he said.
“There are lots of people wanting a nicer home and they’re happy to spend the money … there is a bit of pent up demand because there were almost no (listings) during the lockdown period. Buyers are now a bit more used to, a bit more comfortable, with the restrictions.”
Auctioneer Andrew Cooley calls bids on a Lilli Pilli house that sold for $2.31m.
The sale comes hot on the heels of a spate of high sales in the Sutherland Shire — last week a new auction record was set for the region when a Burraneer house sold for $7.1m.
The strong demand continued down south this week when a five-bedroom house on Immarna Ave in nearby Lilli Pilli sold for $2.31m, $130,000 above reserve.
Four bidders registered with agent Dax De Traubenberg of Abode Property and 16 offers were made. Auctioneer Andrew Cooley received an opening bid of $1.9m. All the bidders were local families.
In the northwest, 20 bidders turned up for the auction of an acreage in Kenthurst and the strong competition pushed the price $620,000 over the reserve.
The Robson Rd property that sold in Kenthurst.
The 2.3ha property with 74m of frontage on Robson Rd had a $2.1m reserve and sold through LJ Hooker-Dural for $2.72m.
Auctioneer Stu Benson received offers from 10 of the registered bidders but said the bids came at a frantic pace, with some making offers simultaneously. There were a total 32 bids. “This was a prime example of why should set your reserve at the consensus of buyer feedback — we had six people bidding above our reserve because the home was still in their budget,” he said.
The property included an old cottage but most of the interest was from buyers wanting to replace it with a modern home. “It will almost certainly be rolled over,” Mr Benson said.
The Putney property on Regent St sold at “land value”, the agent said.
A house on a prized 835sq m block in Putney sold for $2.81m, $310,000 over reserve, after attracting 35 bidders — a price the agent said represented “land value”.
Selling agent Joseph Mazar of Ray White-Ryde said nearly all the interest in the original-condition Regent St house was from buyers hoping to knock it down.
The winning bidders would be replacing the three-bedroom house with a modern luxury home, he said.
“It offered great potential,” Mr Mazar said “There was a mix of buyers who wanted to build duplexes and others with different plans … we were expecting a good turnout but not like this.”
The Regentville house from 1840s was well-preserved.
Further west, a Sandstone home in Regentville built in the 1840s as a workers’ cottage sold at auction for $1.49m.
The house on Bundarra Rd had been in the one family for more than a century and the original interior was largely intact — including the lime wash walls.
“It was like a museum,” selling agent Joshua Cassells of Starr Partners said, adding it was a high price considering the strict heritage restrictions. “You’d have to be careful with any changes,” he said. The reserve was $1.42m and seven bidders registered for the auction.
The sellers had respected the history of the home and kept it in excellent condition, Mr Cassells said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime sale.”
The Macquarie St house.
In the inner west, a modern-style five-bedroom house on Macquarie St in Chifley sold for $2.641m – $141,000 over the reserve. McGrath selling agent Marnie Seinor said there was a lack of similar stock and this pushed up the price.
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