A luxurious home in Strathfield’s prestigious Golden Mile sold bang on its reserve of $6.18 million to a family upgrading from Bella Vista at auction on Saturday.
Guided at $5.4 million, the six-bedroom, six-bathroom property at 38 Kingsland Road included an eight-car basement level with a cinema room.
Six registered, and five actively bid on the grand home built for entertaining, with an inground swimming pool.
Bidding opened at $5.5 million, with $100,000 bids taking it to $5.7 million before a 100-strong crowd, at the auction held inside out of the rain. Bids ranging from $50,000 to $10,000 were placed until it met its reserve of $6.18 million.
McGrath’s Tarun Sethi said the location was in a highly coveted part of Strathfield dubbed the Golden Mile and was close to the private schooling of the area.
“The market in Strathfield is on fire ... Strathfield property is selling like hotcakes simply due to the highly sought-after demand in the area,” Sethi said.
The vendors plan to downsize. The property last sold for $433,000 in 1994, records show.
The property was one of 996 scheduled auctions in Sydney at the weekend.
By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67 per cent from 546 reported results, while 125 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
A three-bedroom apartment in a block of four units at 3/5 William Street in Randwick sold under the hammer.
Guided at $1.5 million, seven registered and four of the interested buyers phoned in.
Bidding opened at $1.5 million, with a live bid on the floor, then a $1.6 million bid from a phone bidder away on a cruise came in. From there, bids ranging from $50,000 to $10,000 were placed until it met its reserve of $1.7 million. The final battle for the property was between two phone bidders until it sold under the hammer for $1.8 million.
Ray White’s Angus Gorrie said buyer confidence is high at the moment.
“There’s a lot of people probably starting to think, ‘let’s get in before rates go down and prices start going up’,” Gorrie said, adding there will be more urgency in the next month for buyers.
The buyer was a young family looking to renovate and live there. The unit last sold for $653,000 in 2002, records show.
A three-bedroom Balmain house with a courtyard, and opposite a park with a playground, sold for $4.06 million.
Guided at $3.4 million, the 278-square-metre home at 24 Mort Street built in the 1930s attracted five registered bidders from the surrounding suburbs. Four actively bid in front of a crowd of 60 onlookers.
Bidding opened at $3 million, with $100,000 bids soaring above its $3.4 million guide and $3.5 million reserve to $3.8 million. From there, bids of $50,000, $10,000 and $5000 were placed until it sold under the hammer.
Cindy Kennedy from McGrath Balmain said the buyer had been searching for two years.
“It has huge potential, the position is opposite a little playground. You’ve got the ferry at the end of one road then you’ve got shops at the other,” she said, adding that many buyers commented that the property had “good bones”.
The house last sold for $545,000 in 1994, records show.
In Glebe, a two-bedroom unit sold for $975,000 to a young upsizing couple from the inner west.
The apartment at 1/83 Darghan Street was guided at $850,000. Two of the three registered bid, with bidding opening bang on the guide. Bids ranging from $20,000 to $5000 were placed until it went well above its $900,000 reserve.
BresicWhitney’s Nick Playfair said the property was sold as a company title apartment, rather than a strata title apartment.
PRD’s chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said Sydney’s clearance rate of 67 per cent is a slight improvement from earlier in the month.
“We are definitely seeing a slightly improved market, but it is still very much so reflective of that positive but cautious consumer base,” she said, noting the clearance rate is still under 70 per cent.
Mardiasmo said she expects the stable market to become more active heading into summer.
“There are buyers, who are wanting to settle before Christmas so that they don’t have to worry over the holidays.”