A renovated unit in Newtown with a lock-up garage has sold for $1,351,000 to a first home buyer.
The successful purchaser outbid four others, who were all first home-owning hopefuls bar one upsizer from the same suburb. The two-bedroom home at 1/85-91 Chelmsford Street had a price guide of $1.05 million to $1.15 million.
It was one of 578 homes scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday in Sydney. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 66.4 per cent from 390 reported results, while 87 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding started at $1 million and went up in varying increments of $50,000 down to $5000 bids as four vied for the keys to the beautifully finished home. Two buyers dropped out of the race at about $1.2 million.
It all came down to the upsizer from Newtown and a first home buyer from Haymarket who placed a final $1000 bid, buying the property for $1,351,000. The reserve was $1.15 million.
BresicWhitney Inner West’s Nick Playfair said while the auction was slow to start, there was spirited bidding for the turnkey home.
“It was a really well-received property overall and that was represented in the bidding and competition,” Playfair said. “It was renovated nicely, located centrally and had a lock-up garage. It’s a strong result for the area.
The beautifully finished home drew first home buyers and an upsizer within Newtown to auction.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“I don’t think this is the norm for all properties. It ticked the boxes for a number of parties.”
Playfair said while high interest rates were on buyers’ minds, people were prepared to purchase in the current environment.
The sellers, who have already upsized within the inner west, purchased the home for $855,000 in 2018, records show.
Newtown’s median unit price rose 3.9 per cent to $725,000 in the year to March on Domain data.
Meanwhile in Mascot, an investor beat four other buyers for a full-brick bungalow at 4 Oliver Street for $1.61 million.
The two-bedroom home, which has an approved DA to add a bedroom, had a price guide of $1.35 million. That was reduced from an initial guide of $1.5 million after the first two weeks of the auction campaign due to feedback from buyers, said selling agent Krissie Ormond of The Agency South East Sydney.
Bidding opened at $1.34 million thanks to the investor from Riverview who ended up walking away with the keys to the home. The buyer had only to compete with one other active bidder, a young family, hoping to upsize from nearby. The reserve was $1.5 million.
Ormond said she was surprised by the result, as most interest had come from owner occupiers who were either young couples or families.
“The majority of the buyers were young couples and young families. It was the investor that showed strength today, which was a surprise,” she said, noting the property’s appeal to investors due to its proximity to the station and DA-approval.
“The investor had originally been looking in the inner west, missed out on heaps of auctions then decided to look at Mascot,” Ormond said.
She said the sellers, who have upsized, were taking advantage of low stock levels before the Spring rush. Meanwhile, buyers were still wary that higher interest rates might run for longer.
“It wasn’t a renovated home by any means,” Ormond said. “It was young couples and young families that were really cautious about how much to spend on the property as well as accounting for how much they would spend on the renovation.”
The home last traded for $345,000 in 2001, records show.
In Bardwell Valley, downsizers bought a three-bedroom house at 9 Sackville Street for $1.67 million.
The home, which had a guide of $1.4 million throughout the campaign, drew eight registered buyers – a mix of downsizers and upsizers.
Five raised the price for the 443-square-metre block after the auction opened at $1.3 million. The reserve was $1.58 million.
Ray White Rockdale’s Nicholas Economos said the successful buyer and direct underbidder, a young couple upsizing from a unit, were both from Bexley.
The home last traded for $460,000 in 2002, records show.