'Everything's starting to sell really well': Sydney's auction market hits its stride

Sydney’s property market has gone from strength to strength with auction clearance rates hitting another high.

Almost 80 per cent of properties under the hammer sold at the weekend with clearance rates at 79.9 per cent – up from 74.1  per cent last weekend.

Domain property market research analyst Eliza Owen said steadily rising clearance rates revealed more proof of a strong recovery in Sydney’s real estate market.

She pointed to an increase in the number of properties sold before auction as a sign buyers wanted to lock in properties before prices increase.

“When we started gathering results today, we saw 118 of the 485 listed properties had already been sold prior to the actual auction, with the number continuing to rise throughout the day,” she said.

“About 30 per cent of listed auctions sold prior to the auction taking place over the past four Saturdays.

“This could be a combination of anxious buyers keen to secure a sale before the property is fought for at auction, and wary vendors who have been waiting for demand to pick up, keen to get a sale done.”

One such sale was at 68 View Street, Woollahra, which sold ahead of its scheduled auction this weekend for $7.35 million.

Phillips Pantzer Donnelly agent David Tyrrell said the result spoke volumes of growing buyer confidence.

“Everything’s starting to sell really well and with the election over and interest rates low, it’s all really helping,” he said.

“There’s definitely a lot more confidence in the market.”

Domain data shows units have performed better at auction than houses. Unit clearance rates averaged 75 per cent for August compared to houses at 72 per cent.

“That’s because the kind of units that get taken to auction tend to be good quality, in desirable areas, and of course offer a more affordable price point for first home buyers,” Owen said.

Sydney’s most-affordable auction sale at the weekend was at 5/41 Matthews Street, Punchbowl, which sold for $320,000.

The Professionals Punchbowl agent Michael Ristevski said the deceased estate attracted seven bidders.

“It was a good little auction,” he said.

“It was advertised as a deceased estate and with deceased estates people expect to get something on the cheaper side, which could have happened, but, because there was a lot of interest, it went over what we were expecting, which was $280,000.”

A three-bedroom apartment with water views from Manly to Balmoral beach at 5/836 Military Road, Mosman, was passed in at $2.5 million. But McGrath Lower North Shore agent Claudia Portale was positive it would sell in the next few days.

“A lot of people did come to the auction, but not many were keen to bid because I think a lot of them are downsizers, a lot of locals, don’t didn’t want to show their hand,” she said.

A rooftop entertaining area with uninterrupted views at 207/23-25 Rosebery Avenue, Rosebery, sold for $955,000 – well above the $890,000 asking price.

Laing+Simmons Rosebery agent Chris Skarlatos said there were few top-level apartments with exclusive rooftop access at this price point.

“They’re usually much larger, but this was a standard two-bedder with a rooftop which is quite unique,” he said.

“To give you an idea, an apartment sold with the same layout three levels down, obviously without that roof access, for $135,000 less three months ago.”

A four-bedroom townhouse at 11/38 Young Street, Cremorne, also performed well, selling under the hammer for $2.16 million – $385,000 above the reserve price.

Generous space at the townhouse generated a lot of interest in the auction and resulted in 137 inspections and eight active bidders, said Matthew Smythe, of Belle Property Neutral Bay.

“The sale price exceeded our expectations considering similar recent sales in the area,” he said.

“A fantastic result for our vendors and a great sign of new strength in the market.”

The family of an elderly man were expecting to sell his rundown house at 47 Kensington Road, Summer Hill, for $900,000.

Ray White Summer Hill agent Erik Polsek said the man’s family was delighted when it fetched $1.085 million.

“It needed a lot of work, the owner had been there for 60 years or something like that,” he said.

“There was a buyer’s agent who threw the first bid in at $1.02 million and blew a few others out of the water. The family of the old guy couldn’t believe it!”