Christine Forster sells Surry Hills pad as auctions hold firm

Politician Christine Forster has sold her Surry Hills family home for $2.705m as auction clearance figures remain firm.

The inner-city terrace owned by Christine Forster (right) and her partner Virginia Flitcroft sold on Saturday for $2.705m. Picture: David Swift

Auction clearance rates have held firm across the country despite a long weekend in several states causing a drop in property numbers.

Preliminary figures collected by property researcher CoreLogic on Sunday showed 84.5 per cent of the 1587 homes taken to auction last week sold. The clearance rate sits higher than the previous week’s 81.9 per cent, but the rise can be linked to the number of properties optioned, which was down from 2473 a week earlier.

CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless said Victoria’s Labour Day weekend had a significant impact on the Melbourne market, with lower volumes also seen in the ACT, Tasmanian and South Australian capitals as a result of Monday’s day off.

“I think clearance rates will stay ballpark next week, looking at the trends,” Mr Lawless said. “We haven’t seen any fundamental changes in the market, stock levels are very low and we have seen continued high demand from buyers.”

Christine Forster, the sister of former prime minister Tony ­Abbott, was one of the beneficiaries of the buoyant conditions on Saturday.

The retiring City of Sydney councillor and her wife, Virginia Flitcroft, had four locally registered bidders competing for the family home at 535 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, pushing the price more than $400,000 above the $2.3m guide. It eventually sold under the hammer for $2.705m.

 

Ms Flitcroft said they were ­delighted for the young couple who bought the home, and hoped they would share many memories as they had over their decade of ownership.

Ray White Taylor and Partners agents Jeremy Brink and James Peach, who managed the campaign, said momentum in the market was strong. “You can feel there is definite momentum in the market as buyers are feeling like they must buy now or they will pay more later, given all the predictions of ­increased prices this year,” Mr Brink said.

“So there’s never been a better time to sell. If you have been sitting on the fence and wondering about selling, then now is the time as there’s definitely a good amount of buyers looking.”

Sydney achieved a preliminary clearance rate of 86.7 per cent from 812 auctions, largely on par with the previous week and the same time last year.

The 477 properties auctioned in Melbourne were almost two-thirds that of the previous week (1299), with an estimated 80.9 per cent of homes selling.

Canberra returned the highest national preliminary figure of 91.5 per cent from 64 properties, followed by Brisbane (82.3 per cent from 107), Perth (81.8 per cent from 25) and Adelaide (81.7 per cent from 101).

The preliminary figures are based on the 82 per cent of auction results received by CoreLogic as of Sunday morning.