A Melbourne buyer dropped $4 million on an East Lindfield house, outbidding a local renter and a young family.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property at 2 Karoo Avenue was guided at $3.6 million and had a reserve set at $4 million. All three registered bidders were active.
It was one of 1064 scheduled auctions in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 64 per cent from 688 reported results, while 158 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The buyer, who recently relocated to Sydney from Melbourne, placed the winning bid with her mother, teenage son and business partner by her side.
She outbid a man from New Zealand who had been renting a house in Lindfield, as well as a young family from Wollongong who wanted to relocate to Sydney.
The opening bid of $3.6 million was made by the young family from Wollongong. Shao increased that by $100,000, taking it to $3.7 million. The renter followed with a bid of $3.75 million, where the tight bidding continued until it sold.
An interstate buyer placed the winning bid at auction for a home in Sydney’s East Lindfield.Credit: Steven Siewert
The buyer, who works in the meat trade, described the house hunting process as hard work, having inspected more than 100 properties in two months.
“I had been looking at the northern beaches and surrounding suburbs, but I found public transport to not be convenient so we considered Lindfield,” she said.
“The home has a very comfortable feel and there’s a beautiful front garden. We are also in a good school catchment area.”
The home last sold for $1,585,000 in 2006, records show.
Ray White Upper North Shore’s Jessica Cao said the property campaign was interesting as prospective buyers ranged from interstate to the NSW South Coast.
Also on the upper north shore, a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 25 Bangalla Street in Warrawee sold under the hammer for $9.2 million.
There was no guide and the reserve was set at $8 million. Four out of the six registered bidders were active and were all young families wanting to upsize in the suburb.
Ray White Upper North Shore’s Michael Dempsey said the vendors lived at the property for 30 years and were downsizing to Barangaroo.
The opening bid was $7.25 million and rose in steady increments of $100,000 until it sold.
Dempsey said the upper north shore was still competitive and unaffected by interest rates.
“In this region I don’t think interest rate cuts will be a game changer. There are plenty of buyers and active bidding,” he said.
In the eastern suburbs, a local first home buyer couple outbid other first timers and even downsizers after paying $2.43 million for a Bondi Junction terrace.
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 112 Mill Hill Road was guided at $2 million and drew seven registered parties, with a mix of first home buyers and couples wanting to downsize.
Bidding opened bang on the guide and rose in varying increments as five participated in the auction.
BresicWhitney Inner East’s Darren Pearce said the winning couple were determined to secure the terrace, having missed out on another property in the area four weeks ago.
“They are very excited. Having missed out a month prior, they were very ready to go. They only saw the house yesterday and registered five minutes before the auction,” he said.
“It was between two parties in the beginning and just when you thought the property would be sold under the hammer, three other parties swooped in. It was very competitive bidding for the last $150,000,” Pearce said.
The property last sold for $296,000 in 1989, records show. Bondi Junction’s median house price is $3 million, up 21.2 per cent in five years to June on Domain data.
The vendor did a major renovation on the terrace in 1991. Pearce said the vendor has moved back to New Zealand to be with her family and has secured a one-level property requiring less maintenance.
Elsewhere in Colyton, 43 kilometres west of the CBD, a six-bedroom property that includes a two-bedroom granny flat, sold under the hammer for a new suburb record of $1.4 million, bang-on the reserve.
The property at 36 & 36A Carpenter Street had no price guide and sold to a family from Sydney’s Hills district who purchased it as an investment.
There were eight registered bidders, who were interested in it for the dual income. But most had their hands in their pockets with only half active. Bidding began at $1.1 million and two parties went head-to-head from the $1.3 million mark.
The property last sold for $555,000 in October 2017, records show, when there was only one dwelling on site. The median house price for the suburb is $871,000, up 11 per cent in the year to June on Domain data.
Ray White Diamantidis Group’s Eli Alkassar said a particular type of property are the fastest to sell.
“Renovated homes are selling much faster and the ones that need a bit of work are sitting on the market longer.”