A father of six paid $6 million for two blocks side-by-side in Brighton-le-Sands, creating an almost acre lot for his family, at auction on the weekend.
The pair of unlivable homes that had been abandoned for more than a decade and part of a deceased estate were sold off one after the other on Saturday afternoon.
The five-bedroom house on 1840-square-metres at 13 England Street was auctioned off first with bidding beginning at $1.6 million. It rose in varying increments as three of the seven registered buyers placed bids until it sold for bang on the price guide of $3 million.
It was the same story twenty minutes later for the left block at 11 England Street as the two-bedroom house on 1720 square metres also sold bang on its guide of $3 million after three buyers out of seven actively bid on that property.
The winning buyer of both is a Brighton-le-Sands local in construction keen to build a huge dream home for his large family.
LJ Hooker Brighton-Le-Sands’ Joseph Galea said he was not aware the successful bidder was interested in both blocks as the man had kept his cards close to his chest.
The unique opportunity to have almost an acre in the St Georges area in walking distance of the famous coastal walk to Sans Souci does come with some restrictions. Since 1954, the then-RTA, now known as Transport for NSW, restricted construction on the back section of the block.
“The F6 was supposed to run through there. Now they tunnel everything. But not only that, it’s not going in that direction … But the RTA will never lift their affectation,” Galea said.
The agent was unable to share the reserve as the solicitor and executor of the estate had only shared the reserve with the auctioneer. However, both sold for $3 million exactly as guided.
An inner west buyer spent $6.6 million upsizing to an immaculate Concord property at 51 Links Avenue. The house boasted an underground garage with a turntable that allowed for eight vehicles to be parked. Other luxurious features included were a cinema room, swimming pool, butler’s pantry and home gym.
Seven registered to bid and three made offers on the architect-owned and designed home that had a guide of $5.9 million.
Bidding opened at $5.8 million with eight $100,000 bids placed taking it to the final price of $6.6 million at private auction on Saturday evening.
Selling agent Ben Horwood from Horwood Nolan declined to share the reserve, however, confirmed it sold above it.
“It backs onto Concord Golf Club. So they don’t have any neighbours behind ... It’s top of the hill, north backyard, absolutely beautiful position.”
Horwood said sharp construction costs and difficulties modifying their own homes was a major reason local families were upsizing within their own suburbs. The vendors will be relocating to their farm on the south coast.
This was one of 857 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 64.6 per cent from 509 reported results, while 137 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Clearance rates are an indicator of whether the property market is rising, falling or remaining steady, with rates above 70 per cent pointing to an annual house price rise of at least 10 per cent. Anything below 60 per cent broadly points to a fall in prices and a weakening market.
PRD chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said Sydney’s clearance rate remained steady ahead of the RBA’s cash rate decision on Tuesday.
“A lot of economists have been saying that there might be a cash rate increase. That actually does play a lot into the psyche of buyers and people who are looking [to] purchase property at auctions.”
Mardiasmo said if the RBA did increase the cash rate it would also impact buyers’ borrowing power ahead of Christmas in a bid to tame inflation in the next quarter.
In Summer Hill, a four-bedroom, turnkey Federation home located at 80 Prospect Road sold for $3.67 million, some $170,000 above its reserve.
An aggressive bid of $3.55 million opened the auction – well above the guide of $3.2 million – as four out of nine registered buyers made offers on the pristine property.
The opening bidder battled it out and won against the three other parties. Rapid fire bids ranging from $50,000 down to $1000 were placed until it was all over within three minutes.
CobdenHayson Annandale’s Santos Sulfaro said the buyer had just sold his own home in Dulwich Hill at auction that morning before purchasing the property later that afternoon, making it a highly emotional day for the family.