A luxurious three-storey, five-bedroom home in Strathfield with space large enough for 10 cars was fought over by doctors and lawyers on Saturday, and sold under the hammer for $7.1 million.
Four bid on the property, which was guided at $6.5 million. It has extensive marble throughout and is located at 27 Oxford Road. All buyers were families, drawn to the area for the schools.
Bidding opened at $6.2 million and quickly rose to $6.8 million, with a combination of $100,000 and $50,000 bids. Buyers began using smaller bids until a medical professional relocating from Queensland bought the house.
The home sold for $100,000 more than its $7 million reserve.
McGrath’s Jessy Antaky said the market buyers would still bid for the right property.
“A lot of people, especially car collectors, loved the fact that you get the freedom to have ten cars that fit in that basement,” he said.
The home’s high-spec construction was popular. Credit: McGrath
“A big wow factor is how it opened up to the pool,” Antakay added.
The address last traded for $1,550,000 in 2010, records show.
The property was one of 596 scheduled auctions in Sydney at the weekend.
By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 66.1 per cent from 384 reported results, while 81 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
A decayed terrace which sat vacant for forty years in Erskineville was fiercely contested by seven Sydney builders at auction, and sold for $2,410,000.
The sale price was $510,000 more than 22 Clara Street’s $1.9 million reserve.
Twelve registered to bid on the end terrace with rear lane access. The bizarre floor plan had seven rooms with minimal or no windows, most rooms only accessible via an external corridor.
Bidding opened at $1.5 million and increments of $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 were placed. The home was guided at $1.7 million.
Ray White’s Shaun Stoker said the condition of the property was so bad it was hard to tell what the intended use for each room was.
“They’re like dungeons; with the rooms. So I didn’t even want to call them bedrooms. That’s why I’ve only advertised it as two bedrooms. Because the only rooms I thought were bedrooms were the two upstairs, the rest of the rooms you just don’t know what they are,” he said.
Stoker said unrenovated properties are doing extremely well as builders are looking for opportunities; he estimated a good renovation could fetch $4 million.
In Newtown, a one-bedroom studio at 311/88 King Street, was Sydney’s most affordable auction sale on the weekend when it sold for $488,000, $58,000 more than its $430,000 guide.
Four registered and three bid for the property. Buyers were mostly owner occupiers.
Bidding opened at $410,000 and the reserve was $460,000. The apartment sold to a buyer renting in the area.
Ray White’s Timothy Gorring said Newtown was attractive because of its food culture, schools and train stations.
The unit last traded for $298,000 in 2011, records show.
PRD’s chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said a clearance rate of 66.1 per cent was low for Sydney.
Mardiasmo said buyers were waiting to see if the cash rate would drop after Tuesday’s Reserve Bank meeting, or if it will hold for another six weeks.
“If it gets held stable on Tuesday, I’m hoping that auction [clearance] rate will be going up slightly. Because that means that people have a little bit more confidence,” she said.
In Cronulla, a tidy three-bedroom cottage more than a kilometre from the beach sold for $2,155,000, more than its $2.1 million reserve. It was purchased by a young family from Caringbah.
Seven registered to bid on the home located at 25 Flinders Road and six made offers. Most were young families because of the price point and accessibility to Cronulla, McGrath’s Jen Rainbow said.
“To get that freestanding home Torrens title in Cronulla that close to the beach is very, very difficult,” she said.
The home last traded for $109,000 in 1985.