From £300 to $1.2 million: Derelict Marrickville home sells for first time in more than a century

When a derelict Marrickville home went on the market for the first time in more than a century on Saturday, buyers knew it was going to be a big auction. 

The last time 57 Petersham Road sold, the Anzacs were fighting in Gallipoli, Andrew Fisher was Australia’s prime minister, and the house wasn’t under a busy flight path.

It was one of 823 properties scheduled to go to auction in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group had recorded a clearance rate of 62 per cent from 442 reported results. 

The 318-square-metre property last traded for £300 in 1915, according to price records, and has since been passed down through the owner’s family.

Although tenanted until recent months, the house had fallen into a state of disrepair – with broken windows and floors, peeling paint and cobwebs throughout. 

But that didn’t deter 10 people from registering to bid for the mammoth auction, which dragged on for more than 40 minutes. 

Proceedings kicked off with a $900,000 bid from an individual – one of three registered bidders – who had inspected the property for the first time on Saturday.

From there it was a slow but steady race. Bidding went up in $10,000 increments, but soon dropped to $5000 and $1000 jumps, as five bidders vied for the keys. 

By the halfway mark, it was between just two parties. While auctioneer Ricky Briggs tried to encourage them to place larger knockout offers, the pair went back and forth for more than 60 bids, mainly with $500 price rises.

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When the hammer eventually fell at $1,200,500 – $100,500 above the $1.1 million reserve – more than 100 bids had been made. 

The property was snapped up by Seaforth couple Jenny and Phil Tonthat, who plan to transform it into their dream home. 

“We’ve done a renovation job before, but it wasn’t as bad as this,” Ms Tonthat said. “We’re not sure yet if we’ll renovate or rebuild.

“It’s absolutely not liveable as it is, but the structure is still good, we like the character of the home and the property is in a good location.”

Selling agent Jonathan Viewey of Viewey Real Estate said it was one of the longest auctions he’d ever had. 

“The auctioneer definitely showed a lot of patience,” he said. “Both buyers wanted it, but didn’t want to offer more than they had to.

“Normally we see a bit more urgency from buyers, but [in the current market] there’s just none of the urgency we used to see.”

The sale price was almost $270,000 below Marrickville’s median house price of $1.47 million. 

“I thought it was a strong result given the amount of work that needed to be done,” Mr Viewey said. 

It was a much quicker auction in Mascot, where another tightly-held home sold after just a single bid. 

While there were two registered bidders at the auction of 110 Wentworth Avenue, a young Rosebery family’s opening bid – bang on the $1.1 million reserve – was enough to rule out the competition. 

Selling agent George Mihaelidis of Raine & Horne Maroubra was pleased with the result, but said there definitely would have been more prospective buyers on the property six months ago. 

“It sold on the guide, and we’ve been having good conversations with vendors helping them understand where the market is at.”

In nearby Malabar, a four-bedroom home at 15 Ireton Street passed in on a vendor bid of $2.36 million. 

Before that, only one of three registered parties bid, offering $2.1 million, which is what records show the residence last traded for in 2015.

Leon Chan of Auction Agency said he and fellow agent Bryan Yu were in negotiations on Saturday afternoon with the sole bidder and another interested party who made offers before the auction. 

They are confident the property will sell in the coming weeks. When it does, under their new agency’s unique model, it will be up to the vendor to determine what commission they make from the sale.

“Our commission will be completely up to their discretion,” Mr Chan said. “It’s like a satisfaction guarantee, we’re trying to bring a sense of fairness to the market, so people know they’re going to be looked after and we’re not going to rip you off.”

Elsewhere in Sydney:

4 Algernon Street, Oatley.

SOLD $3.56 million
Oatley
4 Algernon Street
6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 car spaces

More than 150 people gathered to watch this award-winning home sell under the hammer for $260,000 above reserve. Bidding started at $2.9 million and went up in $50,000 increments for most of the auction as three of nine registered bidders battled it out. The home sold to a young local family through Jack Huggett of PRDnationwide Harvey Oatley. The block last traded for $450,000 in 1993. The high-end home was built on the site about 12 years ago.

15/73 Mount Street, Coogee.

SOLD $803,000
Coogee
15/73 Mount Street
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 car space

First-home buyers lost out to investors at the auction of this top floor apartment close to Coogee Beach. The auction opened with an offer of $720,000, and quickly climbed to the $750,000 reserve, as six of nine registered bidders vied for the keys. The property sold to a Rosebay investor for $53,000 above the reserve. Selling agent Thomas Heath of The Agency, who showed more than 60 groups through the property, said older apartments that buyers could add value to were drawing strong interest.

70 Clarke Street, Narrabeen.

SOLD $1.95 million
Narrabeen
70 Clarke Street
3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 car spaces

Competitive bidding saw this 560-square-metre block sell for $200,000 above reserve. The first bid was made at $1.6 million and increased in $50,000 and $25,000 rises, quickly passing the $1.75 million reserve. Six bidders threw thier hats in the ring, but it came down to two young local families. The home, sold through Grant Matterson of LJ Hooker Narrabeen, for more than seven times the $267,500 records show it last traded for in 1990. The vendors, who were delighted with the result, have sold to downsize.