A five-bedroom grand Federation manor at 11 Bancroft Avenue in Roseville traded for $6.8 million at auction on Saturday.
The winning couple, one a teacher and another also working in education, placed a single bid of $10,000 above an opening vendor bid of $6,790,000 to secure the property.
It took less than two minutes for the winning bid of $6,800,000 to meet the reserve and sell in front of a crowd of 100. Three parties were interested, but one didn’t have finance ready, and the other hadn’t sold their north shore home yet.
The vendors were foodie couple Two Providores general manager Sally Gosper and husband, Sesion Tequila chief executive James Gosper, who plan to downsize closer to the city.
This was one of 729 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on the weekend. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 75 per cent from 432 reported results, while 67 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Selling agent James Sutton from McGrath Wahroonga, said the drawcards were the charming Southern Highlands style and the spacious parcel of land at 1303 square metres.
“There’s a lot of backed-up buyer demand. There’s a lot of people moving from Neutral Bay, Northbridge, eastern beaches coming up for space and size and schooling,” he said.
The property last traded for $2,444,000 in 2011, records show.
A waterfront duplex at 41a Bonnefin Road in Hunters Hill sold for $4.8 million. Four people registered, and three bid actively on the modern five-bedroom home.
Bidding opened at $4.2 million, and $100,000 bids took it to $4.6 million, then $25,000 bids to $4.7 million. The final round of bids to $4.8 million were battled out between an overseas underbidder and the winning bidder from Strathfield.
The vendor built the property five years ago and rented out both sides, deciding to sell one and keep the other. The side that sold was rented out for $2400 a week.
Selling agent Tracey Dixon from McGrath Hunters Hill declined to share the reserve. However, she said it sold above the reserve.
“It was just a unique design for that street, most of the properties along there are waterfront homes ... but it was quite a modern design, which would have been incredibly hard to have approved in that zone.”
Ray White’s chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the clearance rate of 75 per cent was higher than expected and was good news for the market.
“Buyers seem to be a lot more confident, and likely reflecting the fact that interest rates are likely close to peak, inflation is coming down [and] unemployment remains pretty low.”
Conisbee said that, last year, many problems in the market came from people needing to figure out how far interest rates would rise.
“We’re close to the end. Prices have been rising in Sydney since the start of the year, so we’re well and truly beyond the downturn.
“What we’re seeing now in auction clearance rates is that people do seem confident, they do seem to be coming to the market and so the outlook for spring is more property but also more buyers out there.”
A two-bedroom apartment with 1848 period detail in Glebe sold for $2,006,000 to an 80-year-old buyer.
Eight people registered, and four bid actively on the unit, which feels like a house due to its ground-level access, high ceilings and courtyard. The historical property served as a refuge for “fallen women” from 1903.
Bidding opened on a $1.5 million vendor bid, with mostly $25,000 bids soaring above the $1.65 million reserve until $1.9 million. Then it was a battle of $5000 and $1000 bids between a northern beaches downsizer and the winning 80-year-old local downsizer. The vendor flew down from the Gold Coast for the auction.
Selling agent Rhonda Yim from BresicWhitney Inner West said it was a great result for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom, non-waterfront property in Glebe.
“This is a real sign that [with] quality properties there’s still a shortage of these types of homes. And with those types, they’re super competitive.”