By Emily Power
A one-bedroom penthouse in Newtown has shattered a record after netting $1,345,000 under the hammer.
The contemporary 410/21 Enmore Road sold to a young renter for a new suburb benchmark for a single-bedroom apartment.
The property was one of 877 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.4 per cent from 564 reported results throughout the week, while 118 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Downsizers and other first-home buyers were among the five bidders who contested the auction, on an iconic inner-west strip, on Saturday.
Scarcely are penthouses in a price bracket for debutant buyers, but the $1 million guide and a 134-square-metre footprint, including a large terrace, gave them a shot at the high life.
The auction opened at $1,075,000 and the home was called on the market at $1.1 million.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Bidding was rapid until $1.25 million, at which point the combat became “emotional and tight”, said agent Michael White of Adrian William Real Estate.
The property on an iconic inner west strip shattered a record at auction on Saturday.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Newtown’s previous one-bedder record was under $1.2 million, White said.
The winning bidder is a renter from Darlinghurst. He owns a similar style of property in Canberra and hoped to replicate that in Sydney, the agent said.
Bidders included singles and couples from the eastern suburbs, who had cast a wide search net.
“They knew that it was very unique, so they were prepared to, like most people, go that little bit further,” White said.
The property includes a large terrace.Credit: Domain
Enmore Road, pulsing with live music, nightlife and dining, was crowned Sydney’s coolest street three years ago by global publication TimeOut.
“You’re right in the heart of it, and you would think that it could be noisy, but it’s the opposite,” White said. “It feels like you’re so far away from the action when you’re in the unit, but you’re right on top of the world.”
In Double Bay, another young renter secured a slice of the salubrious harbourside suburb for $2,025,000.
The ground-floor, two-bedroom art deco unit at 1/30 William Street was guided at $1.6 million and drew six bidders, from first-home buyers to families and downsizers.
Bidding for the deceased estate opened at $1.6 million. The auction quickly roared above the reserve of $1.8 million and the renter held on to win the keys to her first home, paying the highest sum yet in the 1930s block of 12.
Agent Sean Poche of PPD Real Estate has now clocked 10 sales in the building and has seen a changing of the guard.
The ground-floor art deco unit drew six bidders.Credit: Domain
“The location is ten-out-of-ten,” he said. “You can easily walk to the water and get a coffee on the ferry wharf. You can head the other way and go to one of Neil Perry’s many restaurants.
“I sold an apartment in this building about a couple of months ago, and that was to another young lady. There is a changing of demographics in Double Bay – as older buyers exit, newer buyers enter.”
In East Lindfield, buyers will call in the bulldozers after paying $4.5 million, against a $4.15 million reserve, for an aged three-bedroom home on about 910 square metres.
The family from a neighbouring suburb enlisted a friend to bid on 45 Wellington Road on their behalf. They plan to construct a dream home.
The vendors’ son said his parents were “over the moon” after 26 years of ownership.
The guide of $3.6 million was obliterated by 12 bidders, all who planned a knockdown and rebuild.
Agent Jessica Cao of Ray White Upper North Shore said the attraction was the home’s straightforward development prospects, with no conservation restrictions.
“The buyers know the area extremely well, and from the get-go, they were very keen on getting this property,” she said.
Families were in the hunt elsewhere in Concord, where a heritage-protected Federation house with all the trimmings sold on its reserve of $3.1 million.
Three bidders registered and two were active, opening the competition at $2.7 million.
The red brick, three-bedroom beauty at 2 Clermont Avenue, which had pre-auction hopes of $2.8 million, is in a parkside pocket, near a golf course and shops.
Agent Metin Zirhman of Dib Chidiac & Co. said the presentation – a pool, renovated and packed with character – drew families, one of whom was relieved to come out on top.
“They were obviously nervous during the auction process and very happy in the end,” he said.