Pent-up demand sees inner west cottage fetch $1.9 million

Cheaper credit and a property market close to the bottom has seen pent-up demand from Sydney buyers who are turning up in droves to the select few auctions on offer this winter.

The modest courtyard of 15 Rosser Street in Rozelle was packed out as more than 60 people gathered to watch the freestanding cottage go under the hammer.

An opening bid of $1.77 million kicked off as nine registered bidders pushed up the price in varying increments. It sold for $1,905,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Robinson said the four-bedroom property attracted a lot of interest because of high demand and not enough supply.

“That was an impressive crowd, given that it’s in the middle of winter and it’s nine o’clock in the morning,” Mr Robinson said.

“There was a really high opening bid, which was obviously a tactic but I think there’s such a shortage of stock at the moment, particularly for quality stock, that the number of buyers per property has increased.”

Belle Property Balmain selling agent Monique Dower said it was indicative of the market.

“There are just so many more buyers around so it’s quite a dramatic change since after the election,” Ms Dower said.

A young family were “a bit bewildered” to have walked away with the keys to the property.

“We’re actually about to buy another property in another part of town but always really liked this property,” said Helen McMurdo, the successful buyer. “We sort of just came along thinking we wouldn’t get it and here we are – so it’s exciting.

“It’s pretty clear the market has bottomed out, especially for houses, so we were pretty conscious of getting in now.”

It was one of 259 scheduled auctions in Sydney on Saturday.

At Newtown, seven registered bidders duked it out for a first-floor two-bedroom apartment on 3/83-91 Wilson Street, driving the price to $92,000 above the campaign guide of $800,000.

Marketing agent Chris Albrecht of Kellys Property said after bidding kicked off at $750,000, it escalated quickly to $870,000.

“At that point, a new person jumped in and battled it out with just one other bidder. It was a classic battle between an investor and a first-home buyer,” he said.

“There had been a lot of interest from first-home buyers in this property – out of the seven registered bidders, five of them were first-home buyers.”

However it was the investor who won in the end, securing the property under the hammer for $892,000.

Mr Albrecht said he considered it to be an amazing result, given the turbulence of Sydney’s property market up until only recently.

“It feels like two years of falling prices never happened. It disappeared within two weeks,” he said.

“It feels like I’ve got enough buyers but not enough stock. Power is returning to the vendors. That’s what’s changing the market so quickly.”

Meanwhile, on the lower north shore a Mosman apartment with panoramic views over Middle Harbour to Clontarf fetched $901,000 under the hammer after a fast and furious auction.

The one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit located in a tightly-held precinct at 16/14 Warringah Road had seen more than 80 groups through during its campaign, so it was no surprise to marketing agent Mitchell Soineva of Belle Property Mosman that the auction had nine buyers registered to bid.

“For this market and what we’ve been through, it was a very strong number of registrations and is a reflection of a market that’s on the rebound,” he said.

After the auction opened with a bid of $750,000, a flurry of bids quickly pushed the price to $865,000.

At that point, bidding went back and forth in increments of $5,000 and $2,000, until the hammer eventually fell at $901,000.

Mr Soineva said the owners had set the reserve at $850,000 and were thrilled with the result.

“This is what’s now happening – buyers are ready to buy quality property and they’re prepared to pay top dollar for something they see value in or where they see competition,” he said.

“And the competition is there because we have a shortage of stock. For whatever reason, vendors haven’t responded to the demand from buyers yet but the signals are that buyers have returned to the market, well and truly.”

He said while buyers were still conscious of not overpaying for a property, they were feeling the squeeze of increased competition.

“Traditionally we don’t see a strength like this in the market in winter, it’s almost like Spring has come early,” he said.

“I see this momentum gathering pace and creating a springboard heading into the spring and summer months for anyone wanting to sell before Christmas.

“What we’re seeing now is something we haven’t seen since the peak of the market: competition.”