First home buyer bids against himself to buy Surry Hills unit for $770,000

A first home buyer bid against himself by $20,000 to buy a one-bedroom unit in Surry Hills on Saturday, while the seller reduced their reserve price to get the deal done.

Four buyers, a mix of investors and first timers, registered to bid on the property at 10/15-27 Hutchinson Street, Surry Hills, which had a guide between $700,000 to $750,000.

SOLD - $770,000

10/15-27 Hutchinson Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

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Bidding was slow to start at $700,000, then stalled at $750,000 after just three bids, and negotiations with the highest bidder began on the auction floor.

After some back and forth, selling agent Ercan Ersan of Ray White Surry Hills convinced the sellers and the highest bidder, a first home buyer, to meet in the middle.

The property sold for $770,000 after the first home buyer increased his offer by $20,000.

“I let him know the reserve was $800,000 and he could pay up to $770,000 and he accepted it,” Ersan said, adding the vendors were willing to meet the buyer at that price.

“If anyone isn’t realistic or prepared to meet the market they probably won’t be selling.

“The one-bed, one-bath, no parking is the toughest stock to sell. It’s driven by first home buyers and investors. They’re the two most sensitive buyer profiles at the moment because of lending and interest rates.”

The home last traded for $550,000 in 2013 records show.

Surry Hills’ median unit price fell 1 per cent to $950,000 in the year to June on Domain data.

The apartment was one of 614 Sydney homes scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 60 per cent from 400 reported results, while 109 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

SOLD - $2,700,000

801/144-150 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

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Next week’s expected cash rate rise was on most buyers’ minds for the first spring auction weekend, said Guido Scatizzi of BresicWhitney Darlinghurst, who was selling a three-bedroom unit at 801/144-150 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst.

Two buyers registered to bid on the apartment, which sold for $2.4 million last year and was guided at $2.5 million.

A vendor’s bid of $2.6 million was placed after a below-guide offer of $2.3 million started the auction.

But in a similar scenario to the Surry Hills auction, Scatizzi negotiated on the auction floor between the highest bidder – a downsizing couple from the inner west – and the vendors to reach a price in the middle.

The successful buyers also bid against themselves, increasing their offer from $2,605,000 to $2.7 million to meet the vendor’s reduced reserve, which was initially $2.8 million.

“The vendors were realistic, he bought it last year for $2.4 million, and he wanted to sell it today, so he met the market,” Scatizzi said.

“We actually did well, in a declining market we got $300,000 more than what it sold for last year.”

Darlinghurst’s median unit price remained steady at $1.1 million over the year to June.

SOLD - $1,571,000

29 Rothwell Circuit, Glenwood NSW 2768

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Even the sole bidders on a four-bedroom house at 29 Rothwell Circuit, Glenwood bid against themselves to get a deal done.

The buyers opened the auction at $1.55 million before they agreed to raise their offer to $1.571 million which the vendor accepted. The initial reserve was $1.65 million.

Cooley’s auctioneer Michael Garofolo said the vendors were able to gauge the state of the market at their own auction.

“See the market, meet the market. They saw there was one buyer who really wanted it. If they let that buyer walk, who else is there come Monday? Who else would have bought it? It’s social proof.”

The home sold through Hesh Rasitha of Mountview Real Estate. It last traded for $428,000 in 2002, records show.

Glenwood’s median house price grew 17.9 per cent in the past year to $1.415 million.

In North Ryde, a builder’s home sold for $3.35 million to an inner west family who were looking to upsize to a multi-generational home.

Four parties registered to bid on 6 Marilyn Street with half making offers on the property. The reserve was $3.3 million.

McGrath Epping’s Wayne Vaughan believed buyers and “sellers are somewhere on the same page” now and added that it was the busiest auction weekend that he had seen in weeks.

The home last traded for $1.18 million in 2019. North Ryde’s median house price jumped 27.1 per cent in the past year to $2,303,000.