A gutted and unlivable Camperdown house has sold for $1.13 million to a builder who bought it as his first home.
Despite having no kitchen, bathroom or toilet, the property at 88 Church Street attracted eight registered buyers, mostly builders, at auction. It was guided at $975,000.
The sell-off was slow to start, beginning at $700,000. The price only rose in increments no larger than $50,000 before five active bidders whittled down to $25,000 and $10,000 bids.
It eventually sold for $1.13 million — $80,000 more than the $1.05 million reserve — to a builder, who also bought it as his first home.
Ray White Rozelle selling agent Belinda Cassano said the sellers were off-loading the investment property because they had planned to renovate it for their daughter to live in it while she attended university. They purchased the house in 2017.
“Then COVID hit [and the renovation stalled]. The daughter has graduated and decided to give it to someone else to finish,” Cassano said.
The owner of 88 Church St, Camperdown had demolished the inside of the property, then the pandemic hit, interrupting renovations plans.Credit: Dean Sewell
“It’s an unusual project. The demolition has been done. It’s ready to start. A lot of the heavy lifting has been done.”
The home has an approved development application for a two-bedroom, single storey house with one bath and an open-plan kitchen.
The property last traded off-market for $905,000, records show.
It was one of 599 homes scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday in Sydney. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 79% per cent from 415 reported results, while 61 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Gymea Bay, a dozen buyers from far-flung locations such as Tamworth to Saudi Arabia registered to bid on an architecturally-designed house at 56 Ellesmere Road.
Selling agent Michael Lloyd of McGrath Sylvania Waters had no price guide for the five-bedroom, single-story property with waterfront views due to its uniqueness.
The auction kicked off at $2.95 million, and rose in varying increments thanks to five buyers throwing their hats in the ring. It sold for $3.71 million to a family from adjoining suburb Yowie Bay.
The reserve was $3.45 million.
Lloyd said while the strong result exceeded expectations, buyers had been concerned about rate rises.
“We had a buyer’s agent bidding on two people living in Saudi Arabia, and they were concerned about rate rises pending, and they pulled their bidding capacity back, and they gave instructions on pulling back on their limit.”
The home last traded for $1.95 million in 2018, records show.
In Western Sydney, a sibling duo bought their first home together at 8 Broadmeadows Street, St Johns Park for $1.5 million.
The pair, who live around the corner, outbid 11 other buyers who registered to bid on the four-bedroom house.
The auction opened bang-on the price guide of $1 million, and half of the buyers pushed the price up in varying increments.
The reserve was $1.2 million and the result surprised Cooleys auctioneer Michael Garofolo.
“It’s a lot of money for a four-bedroom that’s far from new. My question is if that’s worth $1.5 million, what’s a brand-spanker with a pool worth?,” Garofolo said.
Selling agent Blaz Dejanovic of Blaze Real Estate said the successful first time buyers, a sister and brother, bought it as an investment which they would rent out for the time being.
“They’re stronger together. It’s a bigger deposit, and they can ride out the market. It’s better than having the money in a bank account,” Dejanovic said.
In North Epping, a whopping 25 buyers — a mix of first timers, upgraders and even some downsizers — registered to bid on 7 Jacobs Close, which was guided at $2 million.
The auction also opened right on the price guide and rose in $100,000 increments. Only six buyers were able to participate in the sell-off at that level.
After a final bid of $2000, the five-bedroom house sold for $2,502,000 to a family upgrading from Eastwood. The reserve was $2.05 million.
Selling agent Catherine Murphy of The Agency North said the limited number of listings on the market were a bigger worry to buyers than interest rates.
“It’s really telling of the market today that there is a real shortage of stock. There’s no option B for buyers right now. Hence, why we’ve got so many people registered and so much fierce competition,” Murphy said
“When the bank assesses [buyers] they already assess them at a higher rate anyway and that is built into their pre-approval.”
The property last traded for $626,000 in 2004, records show.