By Kate Burke
Three minutes and two bidders was all it took for a Newtown family home to sell at auction on Saturday.
The five-bedroom house, at 70 Wells Street, had been guided at $2.5 million but rapid-fire bidding from two local families quickly pushed the sale price to $3.11 million – $360,000 above the reserve price.
It was one of 696 Sydney properties scheduled for auction in Sydney on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 73.5 per cent from 437 reported results, while 84 auctions were withdrawn.
Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding was quick to start with Advantage Auction Group auctioneer Ricky Briggs receiving an opening offer of $2.7 million from buyers’ agent Nick Viner, of Buyer’s Domain, acting on behalf of a local family.
Auctioneer Ricky Briggs took an opening offer of $2.7 million.Credit: Rhett Wyman
A Rozelle buyer then made a bid of $2.71 million, and bidding raced up from there – quickly passing the $2.75 million reserve and leaving two other registered bidders watching from the sidelines.
The home sold to a family upsizing from Rozelle, who have two children attending the nearby Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.
The buyer, Ed, who declined to give his surname for privacy reasons, said they had gone close to their price limit.
“Everyone has a hard cap, we thought the property was worth $3.1 million, and had said we wouldn’t go over $3.15 million ... if it went over then we were happy to let it go,” he said.
Four buyers registered to bid on the family home, but only two had a chance to compete.Credit: Rhett Wyman
The 370-square-metre block sold through Belle Property Annandale’s Blake Lowry, who said the rapid bidding had left two other house hunters unable to get a word in.
“They might have had budgets that could compete, but the bidding went so quickly that they didn’t get a chance to put their cards up,” he said.
Viner, who acted on behalf of the underbidders, was surprised by the result.
“It’s an unusually large property for Newtown, [and the result] is an indication that if you’ve got a rare property buyers will come,” he said, adding lower listing levels were also increasing competition on homes.
Records show the property last traded for $295,000 in 1996.
In the city’s north-west, more than ten times the number of buyers turned out to compete for a three-bedroom villa at 3/2 The Cottell Way, Baulkham Hills, which was purchased by first home buyers.
The home on a 320-square-metre block attracted a whopping 44 registered bidders and the auction had to start 10 minutes late as interested buyers struggled to find parking nearby.
Despite the strong turn-out, Benson Auctions’ Stu Benson had to knock back an attempt to start the auction at $1 million, and requested an opening offer in line with the $1.1 to $1.2 million price guide, which was quick to follow.
Auctioneer Stu Benson took offers from 10 of the 44 registered bidders.
Only ten of the bidders got a chance to raise their paddle, pushing the bidding up in a mix of increments to the $1,396,000 sale price, which was $76,000 above the reserve.
Benson said the bidding dropped to $1000 increases before the fall of the gavel, and buyers had stretched to their limit to try to secure the property.
“Whilst we’ve got good quality buyers ... they’ve definitely done their sums ... and are measured in what they are willing to commit to particularly given [interest] rates are likely to rise further.”
Selling agent Jason (Chia Hui) Li from Murdoch Lee Estate Agents said villas were rare in the region and attracted the trifecta of buyers: first home buyers, upsizers and downsizers.
The sellers purchased the property for $510,000 in 2012, records show, and plan to upsize locally.
It was a more subdued affair at the auction of a cliffside Dover Heights house, which sold in post-auction negotiations.
Bidding on the three-bedroom, award-winning home at 10 Wentworth Street started at $10 million, and climbed in mostly $100,000 and $200,000 jumps to $10.88 million, as two buyers traded bids.
Cooley Auctions’ Jake Moore then made an $11 million vendor bid on the “Lighthouse” home, designed by architect Peter Stuchbury, at which the property passed in. It is understood to have sold for close to that amount shortly afterwards.
The 556-square-metre block traded through Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty’s Michael Pallier and Steven Zoellner, of Laing+Simmons Double Bay. Records show it last traded for $4.1 million in 2008.
In Wahroonga, a four-bedroom house at 9 Edgecombe Avenue sold for $2.3 million after competition from just three of the 16 registered bidders pushed the price $500,000 above the reserve.
The tightly-held home, built by the sellers in 1972, was on the market from the opening bid of $1.9 million, which topped the $1.8 million reserve.
The property sold to first home buyers through Michael Dempsey from Ray White Upper North Shore. He said the downsizing sellers had been realistic with their expectations and were stoked with the result.