By Kate Burke
A two-bedroom apartment in Randwick fetched $1.44 million at a competitive auction on Saturday which drew more than a dozen bidders and was over in a matter of minutes.
The apartment at 2/40 Howard Street was on the market from the opening bid, which matched the $1.2 million reserve and topped the $1.15 million price guide.
The strong start left just two of the 13 registered bidders in the running for the 66-square-metre apartment with garage, which records show last traded for $490,000 in 2005.
The two parties, a local owner-occupier and investors purchasing a home for their adult children to live in, went head to head, driving the bidding up quickly in $25,000 and then $10,000 increases. The local buyer made the winning offer, ending more than six months of home-hunting.
Selling agent Angus Gorrie, of Ray White Eastern Beaches, said the north-facing first-floor apartment had drawn interest from a mix of first home buyers, investors and downsizers. Ten of the bidders had been searching for a home since last year.
Ray White auctioneer James Hayashi prepares to sell the Randwick unit.Credit: Peter Rae
“Buyers were wanting to get in before [prices] really start to move along again,” he said.
“The market is flying – we’ve sold 16 from 16 properties so far this year. That’s twice as many as we had done this time last year ... with interest rates looking like they’re going to start going down later this year, it’s giving buyers more confidence.”
More sellers were also hitting the market, Gorrie said, encouraged by the stabilisation in rates and strong prices growth last year which would help provide more choice for buyers.
Records show the apartment last traded for $490,000 in 2005. It was a home, then an investment for the sellers.
The auction had to be held downstairs, due to the strong buyer turnout. Credit: Peter Rae
It was one of 1004 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday, marking the city’s biggest auction day since May 2022, on Domain data.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 68.3 per cent from 635 reported results, while 146 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Paddington, a fixer-upper sold for $9 million, fetching $1.5 million above its reserve.
Five buyers turned out to compete for the unrenovated three-bedroom terrace with parking and a separate two-storey studio in a former stable at the rear of the block.
The bidding for 102 Windsor Street opened at $6 million – below the $7 million to $7.5 million guide – and all five bidders competed, pushing up offers in mostly $25,000 jumps.
An eastern suburbs couple made the winning offer for the home on a 251-square-metre block. Records show the deceased estate last traded for $300,000 in 1981.
McGrath Paddington’s Georgia Cleary said the buyers planned to renovate the home and noted interested parties had been looking to spend anywhere from an additional $1 million to $5 million on upgrading it.
“You could sell a property like that in any market and expect it to do well,” Cleary said, noting it was on one of Paddington’s best streets and offered a 7.6-metre frontage, a rarity in the area.
In Bondi Beach, intense competition for a freestanding 1940s house drew interest from a dozen registered bidders – a mix of families, builders and investors.
The four-bedroom house at 105 Francis Street was owned by film editor Christian Gazal and his Francophile wife Emily Lawrence, and had a price guide of $3 million to $3.3 million.
The auction began with a bid of $3 million, and auctioneer and selling agent Jason Pantzer of PPD Real Estate took offers from seven parties – who made $100,000 and $50,000 bids to start, quickly surpassing the $3.5 million reserve.
The contest came down to an investor and a local family, with the latter making a winning bid of $4.3 million for the home in need of renovation.
“It needs a lot of love,” Pantzer said of the house. “Still, we had over 150 groups inspect the property … and I think the reason for that is a definite shortage of stock for freestanding house in Bondi Beach … the fact that this was a completely unrenovated home did not seem to deter buyers.”
While the cost of construction remains high, Pantzer said, confidence had returned to the market off the back of growing expectations that the Reserve Bank had taken the cash rate to its peak and could cut rates later this year.
The new owners plan to move into the house and will look to design their dream home in future, Pantzer said.
He noted some interested buyers had hoped to rebuild on the block at an estimated cost of $3 million, while others had signalled plans for a large-scale renovation costing upwards of $1.5 million.
Records show the 370-square-metre block last sold for $1.63 million in 2010.
In Mascot, a four-bedroom eco-friendly house at 17 Alfred Street sold for $2.56 million.
Six buyers registered to bid at the auction, which opened with an offer of $2.3 million, below the $2.35 million price guide. But only two parties competed, both local families, trading increases of $25,000 to start, before dropping to smaller raises. The reserve was $2.55 million.
The property has a passive-house design, rooftop solar, water tanks and landscaped gardens with vegie planter boxes.
It will be the first home in Australia for the winning bidders, a family renting in nearby Kensington. They told selling agent Chris Skarlatos, of The Agency South East Sydney, that it was the 93rd home they had inspected since starting their property search.
“I thought it was a fair result,” Skarlatos said of the sale. “Buyers are still wary of where the market sits and are still wary of overpaying, and there is a little more stock coming onto the market ... so they don’t feel the need to rush to buy.”
The 329-square-metre block last sold for $801,000 in 2013, records show.