'An amazing result': Chippendale apartment in converted warehouse sells for $1,461,000

There were no signs of the cool chill which has blown through Sydney’s property market when a Chippendale apartment sold for more than $160,000 above reserve on Saturday. 

More than 40 people turned out for the hot auction of the two-bedroom warehouse-style apartment, one of about 500 Sydney properties scheduled to go under the hammer. 

A Surry Hills investor kicked off bidding for the spacious apartment at 15/9-27 Moorgate Street, bang on the $1.2 million buyer’s guide. 

A first-home buyer couple quickly hit back with a bid of $1.25 million and the race was on, with the price hitting the $1.3 million reserve just two bids later. 

From there five of the seven registered bidders pushed the price up another $161,000.

It was a young couple from Potts Point, who had a parent bidding on their behalf, who nabbed the property for $1,461,000, after knocking out a phone bidder with a final $1000 rise.

“We’ve only been looking for a week, and this is the first property we saw,” said the buyers, who did not wish to be named. 

The result was well above the suburb’s median apartment price of $845,000, and more than double the $681,000 records show it last traded for in 2010.

Seller Mark Sullivan AO, a public servant from Canberra, was delighted with the “amazing result” and pleased with his decision to knock back a pre-auction offer of $1.33 million.

“I’m very glad we went to auction, as we got a lot more,” said the chair of the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. “The price was at the very high end of our expectations.”

“We’re a bit surprised, certainly, given the price downtown and pressure on the market in recent months.”

While the median apartment price in the city and east increased by 2 per cent over the year to December, it fell 3.1 per cent over the September quarter and remained flat over the latest quarter.

Mr Sullivan, an Officer of the Order of Australia, said it was the right time to sell. The investment property had been home to his daughter’s growing family, who recently upsized to a house in Bexley.

Auctioneer and selling agent Mark Foy of Belle Property Surry Hills said it was an exceptional result, and noted selling the apartment had been one of his easiest campaigns in months.

“In tough markets, it’s your unique warehouse conversions and art deco apartments….that are the types of properties that keep performing,” he said.

About 120 groups inspected the property, a rarity in the current market, said fellow selling agent Simon Fletcher. 

While a spillover of unsuccessful buyers from last year gave a boost to the market in recent weeks, he expected demand from buyers to cool again. 

But it hasn’t yet. At least if the auction of a derelict cottage at 140 Victoria Street, Dulwich Hill, is anything to go by. 

About 25 people registered to bid on the deceased estate which sold for $420,000 above reserve. The home, which last traded for $370,000 in 2001, sold for $1.37 million through Shad Hassen of the The Agency Inner West.

Of the 126 groups through the property, Mr Shad said the majority had been looking to extensively renovate the three-bedroom home. 

“Prospective buyers were looking at spending between $300,000 and $400,000 fixing it up,” he said. 

Meanwhile in Rushcutters Bay, a first-home buyer beat out two investors to nab a 37-square-metre studio at 22/66 Bayswater Road which sold for $481,000 – $26,000 above reserve.

The dated studio, which last sold for $25,000 in 1979, attracted three bidders. Nuri Shik of Laing and Simmons Potts Point said the young buyer, who is currently renting the property next door, planned to spend about $50,000 renovating her new home.

On the lower north shore, two local families battled for a stylish five-bedroom home at 34 Park Road, Hunters Hill.

Despite a crowd of more than 80 people and six registered bidders, it was a two-man race right from the get go.

Bidding opened at $3 million, and went up in $50,000 jumps for most of the auction, as the two families went tit for tat.

It was a family who missed out on the home last time it went to auction in 2013 – when it sold for $2.2 million – that nabbed the 815-square-metre block.

They forked out $3,685,000 to make sure they weren’t left disappointed again. The house sold through Simon Harrison of Belle Property Hunters Hill.