Barrister Richard Cobden has sold his ground floor apartment located in Woolloomooloo’s Wharf Terraces, an exclusive block of homes on Sydney Harbour. The buyer paid $6,537,500.
Two parties registered for the auction, which was advertised with a guide of $6.6 million, but only one was active. Bidding opened at $6.1 million and the one bidder bid against themselves.
Barrister Richard Cobden’s ground floor apartment in Woolloomooloo’s Wharf Terraces sold for $6,537,500.Credit: Stone Real Estate
“They did bid against themselves effectively. And then we ended up negotiating it and getting it to $6,537,500,” said Stone Real Estate’s Julian Rowe. He would not share the reserve.
“The people who live there, it’s the who’s who of Sydney … It’s beautifully kept, well maintained. It’s right on the harbour foreshore,” Rowe said.
The strata for the apartment costs $7340 a quarter. The buyer was downsizing from Beecroft and the vendor is relocating north.
The unit last traded for $2.55 million in 2006, records show.
The three-bedroom apartment is one of 34 in the Wharf Terraces at Woolloomooloo.Credit: Domain
The property was one of 528 scheduled auctions in Sydney on the weekend.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.5 per cent from 328 reported results, while 80 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Castle Hill, a five-bedroom, dated home located at 23 Hughes Avenue sold under the hammer for $2.81 million.
Five registered to bid and three made offers on the home, which has a tenant in place until the end of the year. Some buyers wanted to see the lease out and renovate it before moving in themselves.
Bidding opened at $2.5 million and went up in $50,000 increments until $2.7 million. Bidding then slowed to $25,000 and $10,000 bids until a final $5000 bid secured the keys for a local investor.
The vendor, also an investor, was overseas at the time and was said to be pleased with the result. Records show the house was purchased for $320,000 more in 2021 – for $3.13 million.
Selling agent Matt Langdon from Ray White Castle Hill said the large block size of 933 square metres attracted interest.
“The big drawcard for the home was the proximity to the metro station, and given that [the train line is] going to open up direct to the city rather than having to swap over.”
Langdon said not enough homes were available for the number of buyers who were looking.
In Campsie, a rundown two-bedroom house with no parking sold for $90,000 above its $1.2 million reserve.
Seven registered and four actively bid for the semi at 33 Marlowe Street. All were owner occupiers. Bidding opened at $1,050,000 and increments ranged from $25,000 to $2000 before it sold for $1,290,000.
Selling agent Peter Kassas from LJ Hooker Campsie said the home’s main drawcard was its potential.
“It was very rundown. Extremely rundown. It needed both cosmetic and structural repair.”
“[There’s] no parking at the moment now but there’s potential for parking, subject to council,” he said.
The buyers are an expectant couple upsizing from a unit in the inner west. The vendor was overseas.
AMP’s chief economist, Dr Shane Oliver, said the weekend clearance rate of 62.5 per cent was a soft outcome for Sydney.
“Quite a soft outcome in Sydney, sales were well down. Listings down.
“It looks like Sydney is going the way of Melbourne. Melbourne has been slowing for some time, Sydney has as well, but Sydney has generally held up a bit better.
“The basic problem is there’s a shortage of housing, which obviously is supportive of the market. But, against that, the ongoing high level of interest rates is acting as a drag,” he said.
Oliver said the numbers could be partly influenced by the school holidays.
“We don’t know to what degree it might have been distorted by the start of school holidays. And it’s often a time when people go away for the holidays. So travel may affect things as well. But the overall picture is one of softening as we go into the cooler months,” he said.