By Kate Burke
A Hunters Hill home on the market for the first time in more than six decades sold for $4.47 million at auction on Saturday, with the buyers now looking to tackle a costly renovation of the original-condition home.
Three buyers competed for the three-bedroom house and rapid bidding pushed the price $670,000 above the reserve within a matter of minutes.
Buyers braved the wet weather for the auction of 3 Gladstone Ave, Hunters Hill, which sold for $4.47 million.Credit: Rhett Wyman
The sandstone home at 3 Gladstone Avenue was one of 554 Sydney properties scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 50.9 per cent from 340 reported results, while 118 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding for the tightly held home with city views started at $3.5 million, but only after McGrath auctioneer Troy Malcolm knocked back an opening offer of $3 million — well below the $3.8 million price guide and reserve price.
Three of the six registered bidders competed, pushing the price up in $50,000 jumps to $4.4 million, before slowing to smaller increments.
The underbidder bowed out of the race at $4.47 million. When asked if he would place another bid, he told the auctioneer and his competitors; “No, thank you, you can have it ... good luck with the reno.”
Three buyers competed for the original-condition home, pushing the price $670,000 above the reserve.
Interested parties had been looking to spend close to $2 million on a renovation and extension of the home, said selling agent Robert Bagala of McGrath Ryde.
It will be a home for the new owners, a family from Ryde, following a carefully considered renovation that factors in the conservation components of the property, he said.
The 740-square-metre property was a rare opportunity to secure a level block with city views in a tightly held pocket of the peninsula, Bagala said. Records show the home last traded for £4650 in 1956.
While the market was not as buoyant as it had been previously, blue chip property, was still selling for similar levels as last year, Bagala added.
Auctioneer Troy Malcolm prepares to sell the home.Credit: Rhett Wyman
House prices in the suburb jumped more than a third over the year to March, Domain data shows, reaching a median of $4,115,000.
In Rushcutters Bay a first-home buyer couple purchased another fixer upper — a one-bedroom apartment with a study — for $641,000.
There were eight registered bidders for the deceased estate at 3/70 Bayswater Road and five made offers after the bidding opened at $500,000, pushing the price $91,000 above the reserve.
The first-home buyers outbid builders, investors and other home buyers for the keys. It was good news for the couple who were holidaying in Byron Bay and had family bidding on their behalf.
The 55-square-metre apartment without parking sold through Nuri Shik of Belle Property Potts Point, who said it last traded for $42,000 in 1980.
“I was confident it was going to sell, but it went for more than what I thought,” Shik said.
The suburb recorded a median unit price of $935,000 over the year to March.
In Pymble, a local investor paid $3.79 million for a modern four-bedroom house at 28 Reynolds Street, outbidding a downsizer and two young families after the vendor reduced their reserve.
Auctioneer Clarence White, of Menck White Auctioneers, took an opening offer of $3.3 million. Bidding jumped in $100,000 increments to the $3.5 million price guide, then slowed to $25,000, $10,000 and $5000 raises.
The result was $10,000 shy of the $3.8 million reserve, but was well above the $1.8 million that records show the 930-square-metre block last traded for in 2015. A new home had been built on the block since.
The property sold through William Chan of Marshall. Chan. Yahl. He said the vendors, who were looking to move closer to the city, were pleased with the result.
In Cabarita, an original-condition three-bedroom house sold for $3.2 million.
Bidding on 17 Moore Street, a deceased estate, started at $3 million and auctioneer Michael Garofolo of Cooley Auctions took offers from two buyers before the bidding stalled at $3.1 million.
After several minutes of discussion between the sellers and the agent, the home was eventually called on the market at that price point, below the initial written reserve and price guide of $3.45 million.
A third registered party then made an offer, and bidding climbed another $100,000. The buyers were a local family who will rebuild on the 518-square-metre corner block.
“It was slow, it was a struggle ... but the executor of the estate was happy to meet the market,” said selling agent Ross Musso of Raine & Horne Concord and Strathfield.
He had been expecting five bidders, but two dropped off at the last minute, as they felt there would be better buying opportunities later this year.
“Buyers are really sitting there, just weighing it all up. A lot are scared of further rates rises and inflation,” he said.
In Alexandria, young couples competed for a two-bedroom house at 24 Jennings Street that sold for $1.51 million.
Bidding opening at $1.4 million and three of the six registered bidders made offers, and the home sold to a local upsizing couple.
The 145-square-metre block sold through Nick Moraitis of LJ Hooker Newtown for $210,000 above the reserve price.
In Manly, it was a two-person contest for a three-bedroom house at 95 Darley Road, which sold for $4,252,000.
Bidding opened at $3.9 million, and a downsizer outbid an upsizing couple for the home, increasing her own offer to nudge the price past the $4.25 million reserve.
The property sold through Michael Clarke of Clarke & Humel. The 354-square-metre block last sold for $2,742,000 in 2016.
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