As property runs red hot, this is what you get for $3m

An uninhabitable inner-western Sydney terrace has sold for $2.99m — $800,000 above reserve — as auction markets hit new highs.

The backyard of the property at 285 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, which sold for $2.99m on Saturday; and below one of its rooms, and the front of the house.

An uninhabitable inner-western Sydney terrace has sold for $2.99m — $800,000 above reserve — as auction markets hit new highs and with listings at levels not seen since 2018.

Ray White Surry Hills real estate agent Matthew Carvalho had tongue firmly in cheek when he described the grand but ramshackle 1880s Victorian terrace on Glebe Point Road as needing some “minor patch-up work” in a promotional video before its sale.

Inside, the peeling walls, gaping ceiling holes and dilapidated kitchen and bathroom shells ­revealed a major and costly renovation project. But that didn’t stop a willing buyer paying almost $3m for the three-storey, five-bedroom house with city views in a heavily contested auction on Saturday.

“We had 15 registered buyers, 150 groups came through and viewed the house and 32 contracts were issued,” Mr Carvalho said.

“I think part of it is down to scarcity. Grand terraces like this don’t come up for sale very often.”

 

 

According to CoreLogic, the Glebe property, which was once home to explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, was one of 2731 homes taken to auction across the ­nation’s capital cities last week, up from 2218 the week before, making it the busiest auction week since last April.

Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s head of research, said a steady rise in new listings was encouraging.

“The biggest uplift in new listings volumes over the past eight weeks have been in Melbourne, which follows suppressed vendor activity through much of the second half of 2020,” she said.

“Sydney has also seen a big uplift in new listings, as record high prices are likely encouraging ­people to list.”

The market analytics firm expects more than 3800 auctions across the capital cities next week, making it the business week for auctions since March 2018 when 3990 homes were auctioned.

Melbourne held 1319 auctions held over the week, of which 79 per cent sold, according to CoreLogic.

In Sydney there were 1048 auctions but the preliminary clearance rate was higher at 87.5 per cent. The city’s northern beaches, where there were 72 auctions, recorded a 100 per cent clearance rate, the data showed.

 

An Australian record was set when a Bondi Beach penthouse owned by Mayo Hardware director James Mayo sold for $20.1m — the highest price ever paid for an apartment under the hammer — to a young couple.

The north-facing four-bedroom apartment has panoramic ocean views and has been described as Bondi’s best penthouse.

A third of Sydney properties sold before auction, with the ­median house sale over the week fetching $1.39m.

Simon Cohen, the managing director of Sydney buyers agency Cohen Handler, said pressure on pricing was falling as new listings came to market but demand was still struggling to be met.

“There’s definitely very little stock available and most we are seeing and buying is off-market,” Mr Cohen said, adding more properties had finally come to market in the last week.

In Melbourne, the median house price ­rebounded strongly in the December quarter, to just under $1m.  However, in Surrey Hills in the city’s east, competitive bidding pushed the price of a three-bedroom bungalow at Suffolk Road above the $1.7m ­reserve price to sell for $2.155m.