An architecturally designed house on a rare block size in Chatswood has fetched $2.02 million after 17 buyers registered to compete for the home at auction.
The three-bedroom property at 2 Fairyland Avenue had a guide of $1.55 million – a price point as rare as its block size of 266 square metres for a house in the suburb.
The sheer interest in the home highlighted buyers’ desperation to find an affordable middle ground in the area. Its asking price was closer to the suburb’s unit median at $1,155,000 than the house median at $3.18 million on Domain data.
Only five of the 17 buyers, almost all young families hoping to upsize, were able to get a look in as bidding started straight away at $1.45 million and rose quickly in large increments of $100,000 and $50,000.
A young family upgrading from an apartment nearby nabbed the keys, outbidding an investor. The reserve was $1.7 million.
The unique home is soaked in sunlight and uses natural timber and glass throughout.Credit: Steven Siewert
It was one of 470 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.7 per cent from 300 reported results, while 70 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The split-level design is open and airy, punctuated by glass ceilings and cantilevered timber stairsCredit: Steven Siewert
The home was owned and designed by the late architect Maurice John Perry of Hely Horne Perry Architects. The firm has worked on projects such as Bondi Junction Plaza, the Piccadilly Centre in the CBD and Narellan Town Centre among many others.
Ray White Upper North Shore’s Jessica Cao said the property was not a standard price or a standard home.
“The original council plans had that [block] as a driveway for the shops, but it was scrapped. That’s why it’s so tiny,” Cao said.
“It shows the market needs small, affordable homes in the area compared to the typical 900 square metres of land with four or five-bedroom houses,” she said. “No young family can afford to buy that.”
Elsewhere, a DA-approved house within metres of Maroubra Beach sold for $500,000 more than when it last sold 19 months ago even after it passed in at auction.
The three-bedroom double-fronted full brick home at 27 Tyrwhitt Street had a guide of $3.3 million.
Bidding kicked off at $2.9 million as three out of the four registered buyers, who were a mix of builders and investors, threw their hats in the ring.
But it stalled at $3.36 million where it passed in. It eventually sold for $3.4 million. The reserve was $3.5 million.
McGrath Maroubra’s Josh Karam said the buyers plan to renovate it and live in it before selling it again.
“They have bought, built and sold in the past, so they will enjoy this home too. You avoid capital gains tax when you make it your primary residence,” he said.
Karam said coastal homes hold up well in any property cycle.
Maroubra’s median house price rose 12 per cent to $2.8 million in the year to March.
In Darlinghurst, a mixed-used terrace at 95 Crown Street sold for $2,508,000 to an investor who lives in the neighbourhood.
The four-bedroom home, which had a studio and a rooftop terrace, had a guide of $2.35 million and drew four registered buyers.
Bidding opened at $2 million and three buyers helped push it past its $2.5 million reserve.
LJ Hooker Double Bay’s Mark Matthews said the successful buyer outbid an owner-occupier, from Melbourne’s St Kilda, and plans to flip the home.
“He is a solicitor by trade, but his side hustle is flipping properties. He has his own builder and he project-manages himself,” Matthews said.
He said while properties were taking longer to sell, he only takes properties to auction if there is enough interest.
The home last sold for $2.75 million in 2022, records show.
The suburb’s median house price dropped 8.5 per cent to $2,075,000 in the year to March.