A run-of-the-mill Lane Cove house has sold for $3,517,500 to a young family renting in the area.
The three-bedroom home with its own studio at 28 Tambourine Bay Road started with a guide of $2.7 million that was revised to $2.9 million due to strong interest.
Eleven buyers – a mix of developers and young families – registered to bid on the investment property that was last purchased for $250,000 in 1990, records show.
Bidding started at $2.8 million and was quick to rise in varying increments thanks to five buyers who threw their hat in the ring. Developers had shown interest in the property but couldn’t get a look in thanks to the pace of the bidding, and it eventually became a two buyer race between young families in the area.
The vendors netted 14 times what they paid for it more than thirty years ago.
Belle Property Lane Cove Principal’s James Bennett said spirited bidding left interested developers behind.
Almost a dozen buyers registered to bid on the home that had the same owners since 1990. Credit: Rhett Wyman
“There were definitely some developers there interested in the land, but they almost didn’t get a chance to bid,” Bennett said.
“It’s a super strong result. It shows the proximity to the village is, a lot of the time, above all most important to buyers.”
He said the successful buyers plan to live in it before extending the existing home rather than knocking it down.
Lane Cove’s median house rose 6.1 per cent to $2,625,000 in the year to March on Domain data.
It was one of 752 homes scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday in Sydney. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 69.7 per cent from 521 reported results, while 108 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Erskineville, a 60-square-metre Victorian terrace sold for a cool $1,632,000 to a first home buyer with parents in tow.
The two-bedroom home at 35 Devine Street had a guide of $1.35 million and drew eight registered buyers, which included other first time hopefuls, upsizers and investors.
A $1.27 million bid kicked-off the auction. The price then rose in $50,000 and $20,000 increments as five buyers made bids.
The winning buyer was renting in neighbouring Newtown. The direct underbidder was another first home buyer who was renting in Marrickville.
Adrian William’s Daniel Josevski, who declined to reveal the reserve, said buyers were paying a premium to be close to shops, transport and other popular amenities.
“That’s the highest price per square metre in Erskineville. When you’ve got a prime location such as Devine Street, a moment’s walk to the Erskineville village and King Street, buyers are having to pay premiums in pockets like this with quality renovated homes like this,” Josevski said.
“Buyers are extending themselves to get into the market now rather than waiting in anticipation of rate drops, which is when the market really picks up.”
The sellers are relocating to Brisbane to be closer to family. The home was last purchased for $990,000 in 2018, records show.
Erskineville’s median house price rose 12 per cent to $1,784,000 in the year to March.
In Kirribilli, a close-to-original condition unit sold for $1.21 million to a northern beaches investor.
Six buyers registered to bid on the one-bedroom unit at 31/32 Carabella Street, which had a guide and reserve of $950,000.
Bidding started at $920,000 and rose quickly as half the buyers raised the price in small increments.
The northern beaches investors outbid another investor from Newcastle and a first home buyer with the bank of mum and dad.
Cunninghams’ Richard Cook said it was a strong result in a market that had been more or less the same in the past few months.
“The same apartment a level above sold for less last year. It shows there’s an appetite for those harbour-view, bolthole investments,” Cook said. “The interest rate chat has quietened down significantly. People have got confidence that if they’re shopping today they have an idea of what they can borrow.”
The home was last purchased for $95,000 in 1986, records show.