By Kate Burke
A Woolloomooloo apartment with city skyline views sold for $3.91 million on Saturday afternoon in a post-auction contest between three buyers.
Seven people turned out on Saturday morning to compete for the three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment at 708/63 Crown Street, four of whom already lived in the Crown Gardens building.
But that interest was not enough for the deceased estate to sell under the hammer, as buyers were slow and cautious in their bidding, which started at $3.5 million – well below the $3.8 million price guide.
From there it was a long time before a second bid eventuated, with interested buyers questioning if the apartment – once owned by McGrath chief executive John McGrath – was on the market.
Negotiations on the auction floor ensued, and after some time the bidding began to climb, rising in $50,000 and $25,000 increments as three parties made offers. Bidding stalled again at $3.8 million, at which point the property was passed in.
Ray White auctioneer James Kerley in action at 708/63 Crown Street Woolloomooloo.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Selling agent Michael Lyons of Ray White Woollahra and Paddington said there was then essentially an auction after the auction. The three parties exchanged offers throughout the day, pushing the price up to $3.91 million – just shy of the revised reserve of $4 million.
“It was always going to get a good result,” Lyons said, though he noted buyers had been wary of overpaying.
“A lot of these buyers are very astute, they didn’t want to bid until the property was on the market ... and it took a bit of time to warm up.
“For quality properties, they’re prepared to pay but like the transparency of the auction process. The buyer knows that he got it for market value because he has paid just $10,000 above the next best buyer.”
The eventual buyers were a couple from Berry, looking to downsize to Sydney.
The apartment has three balconies and city skyline views. Credit: Rhett Wyman
The result was well above the suburb’s median unit price of $1.05 million, and the $1.6 million that records show the apartment last traded for in 2002.
The unit was one of 857 Sydney homes scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 64.6 per cent from 509 reported results, while 137 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Sydney recorded an auction clearance rate of 66.3 per cent last month, down a marginal 0.6 percentage points from September.
The odds of selling were highest in the city’s inner south-west, which recorded a clearance rate of 72.3 per cent, followed by the eastern suburbs at 70.6 per cent and the inner west (70 per cent).
In Mortlake on Saturday, seven buyers registered to bid on a three-bedroom townhouse with a price guide of $1.5 million to $1.65 million.
The home at 26D Hilly Street was on a 260-square-metre block across the road from Parramatta River and the Mortlake ferry, and drew interest from upsizing young couples and families, as well as downsizers.
Bidding began at $1.61 million and mostly climbed in increments ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, as auctioneer Damien Cooley took offers from four buyers.
The home sold for $1,825,000 to an upsizing young family, already renting in the area. The reserve price was $1.7 million.
Selling agent Ben Horwood of Horwood Nolan said it was a strong result.
“[It went for] a lot more than we were expecting, we put a higher reserve on it because of the volume of interest we’ve had, and it even exceeds that, so the owners are extremely happy,” he said.
Horwood noted that buyers had become more price sensitive than they were earlier this year, and that the more affordable end of the market was now seeing the strongest interest.
In North Ryde, a seven-bedroom house with a separate two-bedroom granny flat sold for $3.47 million.
An investor who is based overseas outbid local families for the house at 106 Kent Road, which had a price guide of $3 million.
The auction opened with a bid of $2.9 million, and four of the six registered bidders made offers, pushing the price up in $100,000 jumps to $3.2 million, before slowing to smaller raises.
The 733-square-metre block sold through Belle Property Ryde’s Attlee Hsu. It last sold for $1,712,000 in 2015, and the current home was built less than five years ago.
In Lilyfield, a three-bedroom federation house on the market for the first time in more than 70 years sold for $2.34 million.
Four parties, mostly local families looking to upgrade, registered to bid on 2 Maida Street.
Bidding was slow to start but flowed quickly once an opening bid of $2.05 million was eventually made, said selling agent Danny Cobden, of CobdenHayson Balmain. Three of the parties competed, pushing the result past the $2.1 million price guide and $2.25 million reserve price.
Cobden said interested buyers had all been looking to renovate the mostly original home, which sits on a 250-square-metre corner block.