Sydney auctions: Spring house hunters out in force for $2.4 million Bondi semi

Sydney’s housing market has started spring with a bang, as the proportion of homes sold under the hammer on Saturday reached boom-time peaks.

The city posted an 81.9 per cent preliminary auction clearance rate, on Domain Group data, as buyers clamoured for the relatively few properties for sale.

Last time the clearance rate was higher – excluding an outlier Australia Day long weekend last year with only a handful of auctions – was on March 18, 2017, when it reached 82.2 per cent.

Shortly after, the bank regulator moved to stem the flow of credit to property investors, which put the brakes on runaway Sydney price growth.

Confidence has been picking up again in recent months after a two-year downturn, on the back of interest rate cuts and regulatory moves to let buyers borrow more money.

Hopeful house hunters were out in force across Sydney on Saturday, racing to nab a property on the first auction day of the spring selling season.

In the eastern suburbs – where 70 properties were scheduled for auction – rapid-fire bidding saw a Bondi Beach semi on the market for the first time in more than 45 years sell for $350,000 above reserve.

Bidding on the three-bedroom property at 38 Francis Street kicked off at $1.8 million and climbed quickly in $50,000 increments to $2 million, after which it continued to race up in a mix of smaller jumps as six of the eight registered bidders competed for the 259-square-metre block.

It was one of the final bidders to join the fray, a buyers’ agent acting for a local couple, who secured the keys – snapping up the home for $2.4 million.

“It’s an incredible result,” said auctioneer and agent Jason Pantzer of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley. “We had over 200 people inspect the property. It’s just a sign of the times; there’s low stock, low rates and huge demand.”

It was a sentiment echoed by buyers’ agent Brooke Flint of Flint Property, who said many of her recent searches had been for long-term family homes, as vendors were waiting for the market to get better before selling.

“There is some quality stock [now though] because the market is shifting,” she added.

Siblings Angela and Leo, who did not wish to give their surname, were delighted with the sale of their much-loved family home but admitted it was a bittersweet moment.

“It was a terrific place to grow up,” Leo said, adding the pair were pleased to see their parents’ property passed on to another family.

“The purchaser is lucky to have got themselves a house that’s been held in one family for more than 45 years,” Angela added. “Our parents, Jim and Maria, had such a well-maintained and comfortable home.”

While it was a difficult decision to sell, the pair felt it was a good time to put the home on the market, due to the election result and lack of stock in the area.

Mr Pantzer added that with limited stock on the market, he was expecting a strong remainder of the year for prices. “Then we might see it flatten off a bit next year,” he said.

The Bondi Beach property was one of 444 Sydney homes taken to auction on Saturday, 91 fewer than the same Saturday last year.

By evening, Domain Group had recorded an 81.9 per cent clearance rate from 315 reported results.

Also going under the hammer in the eastern suburbs, was a three-bedroom harbourfront apartment that sold for $2.97 million – $570,000 above the $2.4 million records show it last traded for.

Bidding on 5/4 Billyard Avenue, Elizabeth Bay, began at $2.5 million, with three of the five registered parties pushing the price $120,000 above the $2.85 million reserve.

The 86-square-metre property sold through Renee Cross of Ray White Elizabeth Bay to a professional couple from the south coast. The property will serve as a city bolthole for the pair and a home for their Sydney-based son.

In the inner west, a whopping 22 people registered to bid for a dilapidated three-bedroom house at 72 Albert Street, Leichhardt.

Bidding on the 234-square-metre block opened at $950,000 and went up in $25,000 jumps, quickly passing the $1.05 million reserve, before slowing to smaller increments.

Only five of the hopeful buyers managed to get a word in before the price hit $1.25 million and the property sold to a builder father and son duo who plan to renovate it, then rent it out. The property sold through Frank Sulfaro of Richardson & Wrench Leichhardt.

Builders and developers also competed for another dilapidated three-bedroom house, built across two lots, in neighbouring Annandale.

Five of nine registered bidders threw their hats in the ring for 51 Taylor Street, pushing the price from an opening offer of $1.5 million up to $2 million, in just a handful of bids.

The house, on the market for the first time in 80 years, sold through Michael Montano of Raine & Horne Leichhardt for $2.05 million, some $100,000 above reserve.

It was snapped up by a builder who is hoping to knock down the existing home and replace it with two new dwellings.

A few suburbs over in Erskineville, four parties competed for a four-bedroom house at 21 Pleasant Avenue.

Bidding started at $1.7 million, well below the $1,815,000 records show it last traded for in 2016. But upgrades to the property and spirited bidding from four parties, meant the price climbed well past the $1.95 million reserve before the hammer fell.

The 190-square-metre property sold for $2.12 million through Moira Verheijen of Ray White Erskineville to a local family, who narrowly beat out an expat bidding on the phone from Hong Kong.