A tightly held Double Bay unit with water views, access to a private lawn and private access to a beach has sold for $1,685,000 to first home buyers renting in the suburb.
The two-bedroom home at 12/22 Stafford Street, which had a guide of $1.3 million, drew a crowd that spilled onto the sand in front of the property where neighbours were sipping on champagne as they watched the auction action.
It was one of 794 homes scheduled to go to auctions on Saturday in Sydney. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.8 per cent from 518 reported results, while 109 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Eight buyers, all owner-occupiers who were either first timers or regional bidders looking for a Sydney pad, registered to bid on the company title property that was on the market for the first time in 42 years.
A $1.3 million bid started the sell-off and went up in varying increments from $50,000 down to $5000 as it bounced between six active bidders.
The deceased estate was sold to a first home buyer couple who were renting in Double Bay. The reserve was $1.4 million.
The waterfront unit at Double Bay had a price guide of $1.3 million.Credit: Dean Sewell.
PPD Real Estate’s Sean Poche said the home could not be rented out in the first two years, warding off investor interest on the home.
“This was a bit interesting. It was a restrictive company title, which basically ruled out the typical apartment market, so there were no investors,” Poche said.
“But given the calibre of the property and its view, it did get a strong result,” he said. “To be able to look out your balcony window and see the water, it trumped everything.”
Double Bay’s median unit price jumped 18.2 per cent to $1,956,000 in the year to June on Domain data.
In Paddington, local parents snapped up a two-bedroom home with a car space at 38 Dudley Street for $3.4 million for their adult children.
The rare 1920s semi-detached house had a guide of $2.45 million throughout the campaign and attracted 18 registered bidders; a mix of first timers, downsizers, upsizers and investors.
Bidding for the deceased estate opened at $2.5 million and went up between $70,000 and $50,000 bids for most of the auction as six parties took part.
At $3 million, it whittled down to a two-buyer race between a young family looking to upsize and the parents, who were buying for their working-age children, until it sold to the latter.
McGrath Paddington’s Fraser Turvey said the 186-square-metre-block ticked a lot of boxes for a market that was unperturbed by high interest rates.
“There’s no shortage of money in Sydney, especially a suburb like Paddington that is in very high demand. They’re not building any houses in the area,” Turvey said.
“It’s still a very popular area. We don’t see a drop in demand in any given year. What really affects the market is supply. Even though interest rates have been going up in the past two years, it hasn’t really put a dampener on demand at all.”
The home last sold for $155,000 in 1986, records show.
Paddington’s median house price rose 3.2 per cent to $3.2 million in the year to June.
In Stanmore, 10 buyers, who were a mix of first timers and upsizers, registered to bid on 4/2 Douglas Street.
The three-bedroom townhouse had an initial guide of $1.5 million that was increased to $1.6 million due to buyer feedback.
Despite some hesitation at first, an opening bid of $1.5 million started the auction and rose in varying increments as six buyers were active during the auction.
At $1.82 million a northern beaches buyer placed a single knock out bid of $30,000 to walk away with the keys at $1.85 million. The reserve was $1.75 million.
Adrian William’s Adrian Tsavalas said the property yielded a good result because it was well presented and the vendors had reasonable price expectations.
“At the moment it’s critical that vendors don’t rush without putting their best foot forward in how it’s presented,” he said. “Those with loftier price expectations might have to readjust.”
The owners, who had upsized in Petersham, bought the home for $1.45 million, records show.
Stanmore’s median house price rose 8.2 per cent to $2.22 million in the year to June.