By Kate Burke
A first home buyer couple outbid 23 other buyers for a Dulwich Hill fixer-upper, which sold for more than $1.86 million at auction on Saturday.
Two dozen buyers, mostly developers and investors, registered to bid on the deceased estate at 15 Kintore Street, undeterred by its rundown condition, the asbestos in the garage or the home’s position under a flight path.
The auction for the three-bedroom house got underway more than 10 minutes late, due to the number of buyers registering to bid on the house, which was on the market for the first time in more than 65 years.
Bidding was quick to start once proceedings began, opening at $1.35 million and rising in $50,000 jumps to $1.5 million, passing the $1.49 million price guide in a matter of seconds. Offers then climbed in $25,000 and $10,000 increments to $1.7 million, as eight buyers made offers, before slowing to smaller jumps.
Almost 60 bids were made before the fall of the gavel at $1,861,000. The reserve was $1.5 million.
More than 100 people turned out for the auction of a deceased estate in Dulwich Hill. Credit: Steven Siewert
It ended a year of house hunting for a first home buyer couple from Kensington, who did not wish to be identified. They plan to clean up the home, with the help of a handyman father, so that they can move in there, and may plan a bigger renovation in future.
The 310-square-metre block sold through Joseph Sorouni, of Richardson & Wrench Hurlstone Park. Records show it last traded for £4500 in 1958.
“That’s a massive result, that’s a street record for a house that needs complete renovating, you can’t even move in,” Sorouni said, adding that interested builders had been looking to spend at least $500,000 on a renovation.
“About 90 per cent of interested buyers were builders … I had a feeling it would be a couple or a family who bought this because they’re going to have more of an emotional attachment to the home.”
He added a lack of houses for sale in the area was fuelling strong competition and prices.
The original condition home needs a renovation. Credit: Steven Siewert
The property was one of 540 scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday, the first big auction day for 2024. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 72.7 per cent from 333 reported results, while 50 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate. It’s the city’s strongest preliminary rate since September.
In Coogee, 13 buyers turned out to compete for 1/37 Arcadia Street, which had its auction brought forward due to strong buyer demand.
Bidding for the spacious two-bedroom apartment, which spans 109 square metres, started at $1.3 million, and climbed quickly as eight of the buyers – a mix of couples, young families and investors – made offers.
The winning bidders, a local couple, showed their hand towards the end of the bidding, making just two offers to secure the keys. The winning bid of $1.61 million was well above the $1,375,000 price guide and the $1.4 million reserve price.
The apartment sold through Chris Cantarella, of The Agency Eastern Suburbs. Records show it last traded for a tenth of the price, selling for $161,000 in 1988.
Many of Saturday’s auctions were in the city’s west and north-west, as some 130 properties were scheduled for auction across six McGrath offices in the region.
McGrath NorthWest principal Kon Stathopoulos said it had become tradition since 2021 to launch properties on Boxing Day, to take advantage of the summer break – when the number of properties for sale plummeted, but buyer interest remained high.
“We’re capturing all the buyers from the year who missed out and all the fresh buyers who’ve come in,” he said.
Buyer demand had been strong, Stathopoulos said. Almost 40 properties had sold prior, and the bulk of those that had gone to auction by early Saturday afternoon had sold, averaging five plus bidders.
While the supply of homes for sale was currently limited, Stathopoulos expected to see an uplift in the coming weeks, as sellers looked to capitalise on favourable market conditions. This increase would create a more balanced market for buyers and sellers.
In Quakers Hill, a five-bedroom house at 29 Tanzanite Street sold for its reserve price of $2.05 million.
The auction opened with a bid at the $1.9 million price guide, and two of the four registered families made offers, pushing the price up in $50,000 and $25,000 offers.
It was purchased by a local family, and their parents, to be used as multi-generational home.
The property sold through McGrath NorthWest’s Ruma Mundi. The 703-square-metre block last traded for $305,000 in 2006, records show, and the house was built the following year.
In Seaforth, a four-bedroom house with a pool and a small basketball court was passed in at $4.75 million.
Four buyers registered to bid on the three-storey house on a 721-square-metre block at 26 Peacock Street.
The auction was slow to start, and an attempt to start the bidding at $3.8 million, well below the price guide of $4.6 million, was knocked back.
Eventually bidding opened at $4.4 million and two of the parties competed, but it was not enough to secure a sale on the auction floor.
Selling agent Matt McEwan, of McGrath Manly, was hopeful of selling the home in the coming days. He noted there had been renewed enthusiasm in the market, with strong buyer numbers at open homes, but said there was still some hesitation among buyers who were awaiting more properties to be listed for sale in the coming weeks.
Records show the home last traded for $1.28 million in 2002.