A two-bedroom home in Northbridge was snapped up by a developer for $6.1 million at auction on Saturday.
The dated red-brick house at 5 Harden Avenue sits on a 765-square-metre block and was guided between $4.75 million and $5 million.
Twenty-one parties registered, most of them developers, and five placed bids before a crowd of 120 in the simple backyard.
Bidding opened at $5.3 million and accelerated in $100,000 and $50,000 strides to rapidly clear the $5.5 million reserve. A few smaller bids at $10,000 and $1000 increments were placed before $100,000 bids were meted out, winning the keys at $6.1 million for the determined buyer.
Auctioneer Edward Riley from the eponymously named agency said, “Bidding [was] so fast-paced at times the scribe was struggling to keep up. The winning bidder entered the bidding at the back end of the auction and placed a number of strong increments that eventually wore down his competition.”
Ray White’s John McManus said, “I’m still gobsmacked.”
“To be honest, in all the years that I sold real estate, today was a curveball.
“It was a little bit of a blur because it blew me out of the water; I was standing there stunned.”
McManus said he was expecting 11 registrations, not 21. He added that while the quarter basis point fall in interest rates was not spoken of, it was a positive direction for sellers.
The vendor of the century-old home was overwhelmed with the result. The home had been in her family for 50 years.
The property was one of 992 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 71.1 per cent from 641 reported results throughout the week, while 105 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Elizabeth Bay, a three-bedroom waterfront apartment sold for $6.45 million. Guided at $6.3 million, the unit at 17/8-10 Billyard Avenue had been a city bolthole for a family from the country for 50 years.
Just two overseas parties were interested in the property, one from Sweden and an expat couple in Hong Kong, but only the couple represented by a buyers’ agent registered and bid on the day.
Bidding opened at $5.9 million then a vendor bid of $6.3 million was placed. Negotiations on the floor spanned an hour and encouraged a further $100,000 bid to $6.4 million and then another $50,000 to sell it under auction conditions for $6.45 million, adjusted slightly below its $6.5 million reserve. A curious crowd of 20 locals stayed around to hear the outcome.
Ray White’s Renee Cross said, “they were there to buy the property, [and] they wanted to sell it. It was just a matter of, where could we get the two parties.
“It’s one of the most special spots in Sydney, where that’s located. Like, you’ve got that harbour pool out the front, you’ve got the jetty, it’s prime waterfront property.”
The vendors were four siblings.
In Tamarama, a north-east facing two-bedroom unit at 3/3 Alexander Street sold for $700,000 above its $1.5 million reserve, at $2.2 million. Guided at $1.45 million, the apartment had sat vacant for five years.
Twenty-five parties had registered and six took part. Bidding began at $1.5 million and got to $2 million “in a few seconds” with $50,000 increments before the pace lowered to $10,000 rises until it reached $2.2 million in front of 150 people.
Ray White’s Angus Gorrie said, “the rate cut is a huge, huge influence this week in buyers’ activity and buyers’ confidence”. He added that people were worried about a lack of stock and being priced out of the market.
The buyer is an owner-builder.
The unit last traded for $177,500, in 1992, records show.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Domain’s clearance rate of 71.1 per cent has been the “strongest level since February”.
“It looks like the rate cut has emboldened or has boosted buying at a time when listings are still fairly subdued, and that’s enabled the clearance rate to go up,” Oliver said.
“Now the Reserve Bank seems more inclined to cut interest rates further. And so that’s supporting home buying, which at a time when listings are relatively subdued or down on a year ago, it’s resulting in an ongoing uptrend, or a rising trend, in clearances.”
In Concord West, a five-bedroom home at 12 Merville Street sold for $3.43 million, above its $3.2 million reserve and $2.95 million guide.
Eight parties registered and five placed bids. Bidding opened at $2.8 million before a crowd of 100.
It was sold by Tarun Sethi of McGrath Strathfield. The buyers were a young family from Ermington, while the vendors are moving to Strathfield.