Sydney’s inner west takes national sale crown for third week in a row
For the third time in three weeks Sydney’s inner west has claimed the mantle of top weekend sale.
The nation’s top weekend sale was at Strathfield in Sydney’s inner west for the third consecutive week.
The six bedroom, six bathroom Newton Rd home sold for $12.25m, which was well above its $9m price guide.
The sale set a suburb record which had stood at $12.1m since 2022 on South St.
The listing had garnered 9600 page views on realestate.com.au during its marketing.
With a 20m frontage, the three-storey home came with an Isernia stone facade on a north-facing 1423 sqm block, complete with a north-south tennis court and mosaic-tiled infinity edge pool.
It has a home theatre, music room and garaging for eight cars.
The property was owned by veteran estate agent Steven Devine who started in the family business in 1985 and which rebranded in 2023 as The Agency.
The house sold through The Agency which informed the ASX that it had terminated its chief executive, Geoff Lucas, with immediate effect on Friday.
“The departure of the CEO will have no impact on the day-to-day operation of The Agency or its people,” the company stated.
Its estate agents were instructed to direct any media inquiries to its external media adviser, David Tasker.
The nation’s next priciest auction sale was the unrenovated historic home Newcourt in Centennial Park for $7.8m.
Offered for the first time in 62 years, the 1912 Robertson Rd home was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and J. Burcham Clamp. The Dowd family had bought the four-bedroom house on a 727 sqm block for £22,000 in late 1962.
The home, marketed by Ray White agent Dean Jarman, sold to a family from the Sutherland Shire. Two of the three registered bidders were active but the price fell short of its published $8m guide.
Buddy’s pad fails to sell
Villa Casa, the star Gold Coast hinterland listing of retired Swans AFL champion Lance “Buddy” Franklin and wife Jesinta is still listed for sale after being passed in at its private weekend auction.
The home topped the list of the highest-viewed homes set for weekend auction with 17,638 page views on realestate.com.au after being listed by Amir Prestige Group.
The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom Reedy Creek property cost $8.75m in 2022 when it was also the most-viewed home in the country.
Top dollar for B-grade property
Melbourne’s most expensive weekend sale was a Hawthorn East five bedroom, three bathroom home that made $5,811,000. It had $5m to $5.5m price guidance.
The 1920s Anderson Rd property had last sold in 2009 for $1.95m – and before that, in
1983 for $143,000.
Buyers’ agent Mal James described it as “a B-grade property on 1115 sqm in an A-grade position”.
“It needs a makeover or to be bulldozed,” James said.
It was announced on the market at $5.425m and received an amazing 432 bids from three bidders.
No takers for 1920s Toorak home
Banchory, the 1920s Marcus Martin-designed Toorak house was passed in on a $4.85m bid, but sold at an undisclosed price soon afterwards.
Listed with a $4.9m to $5.39m guide, there was just one bidder who took part in the auction.
Martin had briefly lived at the Glyndebourne Ave house during the early 1930s.
It was sold by the Griffith family, who had bought it for $60,000 in 1970.
Its listing followed the death of Kelvin Griffith who opened Whitehorse Truck and Tractor Service, an International Harvester dealership in a bus on a vacant block in rural Nunawading in 1955.
Insufficient interest in Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall, an inter-war medieval Tudor-style heritage-protected apartment complex in Toorak did not attract any bids.
Its features four apartments with three bedrooms on a 924 sqm holding at a corner of Toorak Rd and Williams Rd. The building was designed in the early 1930s by architect Robert B. Hamilton.
Resembling a large single-family home, it was offered as having potential for additional development within its high rooflines.
The maisonette-style apartments feature brickwork and fachwerk timber joinery under corbelled chimneys.
The auction opened and closed with a $4.8m vendor bid in front of a crowd of just 15 attendees.
Auctioneer Justin Long advised that it had been one of Toorak’s first luxury block of flats.
It now has a $4.995m asking price, having been listed pre-auction with a $5.25m to $5.75m buyers’ guide from Marshall White. It sold in 2023 for $5.35m.
The apartments each incur a $19,000 annual land tax.
Two adjoining maisonette-style abodes have been listed elsewhere in Toorak.
Set on St Georges Rd, Jellis Craig listing agent Michael Armstrong says it presents an opportunity to consolidate into one home or to redevelop the 617 sqm site.
There is a $6.6m to $7.2m buyers’ guide, and offers are due August 27.
Melbourne sellers get busy
Melbourne was the busiest weekend capital city with 844 homes going under the hammer – its highest volume since June. The pre-spring preliminary clearance rate for Melbourne came in at 69.5 per cent.
Sydney saw 632 homes go to auction, and returned a preliminary clearance rate of 68 per cent, which was the second week running below 70 per cent.
CoreLogic research director, Tim Lawless noted that the combined capitals preliminary clearance rates edged just above the 70 per cent mark last week, after dipping to 69.2 per cent in the previous prior.
Adelaide had the nation’s highest weekend auction success rate at 88.9 per cent. The
top sale there was the four bedroom house on 1790 sqm at 16 Karri Dr, Dernancourt, that sold through LJ Hooker for $2,006,000.
Its market strength came amid an 88 per cent year-on-year jump in volume to 167 listings.
“This growth is well above total private treaty listings growth in South Australia and reflects a rise in the popularity of auctions as a selling method,” PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said.
Brisbane was the second strongest market at 73 per cent, up from 69 per cent the previous week.
Brisbane’s top sale was in Kalinga at $2.75m. The 72 Henry St home attracted three registered bidders but just one was active when it was offered by Ray White agent Nick Roche.
The five bedroom, two bathroom home on its 810 sqm lot features timber flooring, VJ walls and plantation shutters.
Flaherty noted national auction levels rise to 2500 this week up from 2360 last week, signalling a further pick-up in selling activity ahead of the spring selling season.
Compared with the same weeks last year, national auction volumes are 7 per cent and 9 per cent higher respectively.
The ACT, with a 52 per cent preliminary clearance rate, was the weakest auction market.
There were just six homes auctioned in Perth.
‘Relief needed to lure buyers back’
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