Source : the age
A first home buyer couple renting in Surry Hills paid $2.05 million for a Redfern terrace at auction on Saturday, $50,000 less than its reserve price.
The three-bedroom Victorian terrace with updated interiors and a streamlined kitchen at 23 William Street was sold by an investor and went to auction with a reserve of $2.1 million.
The property was one of 631 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 54 per cent from 369 reported results throughout the week, while 114 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding for the Redfern home opened below its $2 million price guide, at $1.85 million, and rose in various increments from two registered bidders until $2 million.
Additional bids of $5000 were placed before the auction stalled at $2.01 million.
The underbidder, an Australian couple living overseas and planning to return home, decided not to proceed, leaving the younger couple to negotiate a final offer of $2.05 million, which the vendor accepted.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Selling agent Darren Pearce of BresicWhitney East said: “I think there’s more chance of selling a property now than there was three months ago – if vendors are actually listening to what’s going on in the market.”
In Lindfield, a red-brick property in the same family for two generations drew the interest of families and developers and sold under the hammer for $3.55 million.
The three-bedroom house at 39 Bayswater Road had a guide of $3 million. Its sale price was $475,000 above its $3,075,000 reserve.
Six registered, but two parties bid neck and neck: a family and a builder.
Bidding opened at $2.75 million and rose in $100,000 and $50,000 increments all the way. Nobody else got a chance to jump in as the two who opened bid so aggressively that the auction lasted but a few minutes.
The builder secured the keys for $3.55 million, or land value only.
Selling agent Geoff Dean of Belle Property North Shore said, “If they’re going to spend another $2.5 million building the house, it’s not hard to find an extra … 50 grand to outbid the family that’s looking to make it their home as it is.”
Dean said developers liked the wide street frontage of the site. “It was 29.9 metres, and you can get a very big facade with a very impressive looking house on it.”
He added that “a brand-new full brick home is selling incredibly well still, and as a result of that, a site that you can build, that is selling well”.
The previous owner lived until 105 and her mother had lived in the property before her.
In Bexley North, a six-bedroom house was hotly contested by several upsizing families from the local area.
The two-storey turnkey home at 37 Benjamin Street was guided at $1.9 million and sold for $2.21 million, just $15,000 shy of its $2,225,000 reserve.
Four parties registered, and all four were active. All were large or growing families drawn to the property’s generous space.
Bidding opened at $1.8 million and rose in $50,000 and $20,000 increments between all parties until $2.1 million.
Then a $100,000 bid took everyone by surprise. An additional $10,000 was offered by the same bidder, and it sold under the hammer to a family from Canterbury.
Selling agent Carl Mirabella of Ray White Elevate said, “They’ve been looking for six months, and they really had their heart set on this one.”
Mirabella said that the vendor’s strategy was to set a high reserve and adjust on the day.
“It’s a really hard market to price a property, and it’s very challenging in that regard. So it really is determined on buyer feedback and where people see value in the property.”
Mirabella said that the “impeccably presented” home was renovated 15 years ago.
The vendor is building a new home nearby.
The address last traded for $925,000 in 2014, records show.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said that Domain’s clearance rate of 54 per cent for Sydney will probably be revised down further.
“It’s not a strong market. It’s still a very weak market,” Oliver said.
“Sales numbers are plunging because even though clearances have gone up a little bit … it’s coming on the back of low listings.”
Oliver said that listings are down because buyers are holding off. However, he doesn’t see signs of distressed sales.
“If we were seeing distressed sales, then I think we’d see listings rising, not falling.”
Oliver suspects that demand will remain weak for some time.
“Rate cuts are a long, long way off, and therefore the market’s probably going to remain weak for a while yet.”
