An unassuming three-bedroom house in North Ryde has sold for almost $500,000 more than when it last sold three months ago.
The 582 square metre block at 27 Numa Road, sold just days before Christmas last year for $2,125,000, with a three-month settlement.
The humble home had a pending development application for a duplex, which is rising in popularity.
No sooner than two weeks after settling on the property, the vendor – a developer builder – re-sold it, this time off market, for a tidy sum of $2,620,000 to a fellow developer builder, making a paper profit of $495,000.
You would be forgiven for thinking a major renovation or improvement had been made to the home, but apart from a pending development application for a duplex, it had remained untouched.
Belle Property Ryde selling agent Alex Macri said he matched the vendor with the successful buyer, who had missed out on multiple properties at auctions.
The home last traded days before Christmas for $2,125,000.
“The seller was planning on developing the site, but decided the market is still great and if there were any buyers considering to secure the property off market he would sell it,” Mr Macri said. “But if the price was not at his expectation he would just build the project.”
Well, the price was right in the end, and while the complying development certificate – a stringent but fast-tracked development approval – is yet to be finalised, the new buyer was satisfied to proceed with the purchase, Mr Macri said.
The property changed hands between two developer builders who were interested in it for its knock-down rebuild potential.
It’s not the first time builders have snapped up recently sold properties and paid more, according to Mr Macri, who said there was strong demand for duplexes as they are a more affordable option than free-standing houses.
“In this area, if you’re looking for a brand-new house, you’re looking to spend around the $3.5 million mark. That’s why [duplexes] continue to sell really well.
“There is a lot of land that has sold in the last 12 months [and] there will be a lot of duplexes in the marketplace. It’ll be really interesting.”
A brand-new house in the area costs north of $3 million, according to the agent.
In NSW, semi-detached approvals, which includes duplexes, increased 41.1 per cent in the year to January 2022, according to ABS data.
Economist at the Housing Industry Association Angela Lillicrap said the property type was becoming more popular due to houses becoming less affordable.
“Everybody wants a detached house, but at some point they become unaffordable, so a semi-detached house, like a duplex, is the next option,” Ms Lillicrap said.
“They are rising in popularity. When you have the choice between a house and unit, these are the nice missing middle, so they’re higher-density but with the space and benefit of more traditional detached housing.”
Cooley Auctions auctioneer Michael Garofolo said while this sale was a stand-out result, he had seen many builders willing to pay strong prices for shovel-ready homes.
“If you can give them a DA-approved home, that’s just gold. All that red tape and bureaucratic stuff is done,” Mr Garofolo said. “Builders don’t want to do that, they’re time poor, they just want to build and make a margin. Time is money.”
And for the vendor? Well, their property grew 23 per cent in price in just three months.
“Where are you going to get that unless you’re at a roulette table? I ain’t putting $3 million on black,” Mr Garofolo said.