Sydney auctions: Camperdown townhouse that failed to sell last year snapped up for $1.8 million
A ‘frenzy’ of buyer demand pushed Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate to its highest level in years on Saturday, with almost nine in every 10 homes scheduled for auction selling under the hammer, according to reported results.
By evening Domain Group had recorded a preliminary rate of 88.7 per cent, though numbers were still relatively low – with 408 properties scheduled for auction on Saturday.
The rate was based on 293 reported results, with the remaining results to be reported in the coming day ahead of the finalised clearance rate released next week. There were 18 properties withdrawn from auction. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Among the homes which went under the hammer was a three-bedroom Camperdown townhouse that failed to sell amid buyer uncertainty last year. It sold for $1.8 million at auction on Saturday, smashing its reserve by $150,000 as well as its 2020 asking price.
The 190-square-metre property at 2/43 Ross Street was first scheduled for auction in August, then later withdrawn after failing to garner much interest. It remained for sale with an asking price of $1.75 million before being removed from the market altogether, records show.
Fast-forward six months and the property, despite being virtually unchanged, attracted 30 groups through the first open-home alone, garnering more interest in a single open than in the entire auction campaign last year.
Seven owner-occupiers registered to bid at the auction, including a buyer bidding over the phone from Adelaide and another from America – neither of whom had set foot inside the home.
Bidding opened at $1.6 million, quickly passing its price guide of $1.57 million to $1.63 million and last year’s asking price to sell for $1.8 million – $150,000 above the reserve.
It sold to a couple who had been searching for a home since June, who said with some relief that they had “finally got their weekends back”, according to the selling agent Rhonda Yim of BresicWhitney Glebe.
Ms Yim said the result was a testament to how fast the market had turned since last year’s short-lived downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“There was a lot of confidence [from buyers]. They weren’t just sitting on the edges. They wanted to buy,” she said.
The home last sold for $858,000 in 2009, records show, with the sale price more than doubling in 11 years.
Camperdown’s median house price rose a staggering 15.5 per cent to $1.675 million over the year ending December 2020, Domain data shows.
In West Ryde, a whopping 36 buyers – a mix of developers, mum-and-dad builders and owner-occupiers – registered to bid on a deceased estate at 24 Moss Street.
The auction opened at $1.3 million before jumping to $1.5 million and then $1.7 million in the first three bids – rising well above the price guide of $1.55 million and leaving just seven active bidders to compete.
The 627-square-metre block sold for $1.881 million, $251,000 above the reserve, to a syndicate of locals, said selling agent Kim Toyer-Uttley of McGrath Ryde.
Ms Toyer-Uttley, who showed more than 300 groups through the property and issued about 125 contracts, said she had never seen such strong buyer demand.
“It’s almost a frenzy in the market to secure something,” she said.
“I’ve never seen the most amount of contracts out in the Ryde area in my 16 years. The buyer numbers have doubled or even tripled from late last year.”
“It will get to a point it can’t be sustained. People will think it’s too expensive.”
West Ryde’s median house price rose 17.4 per cent to $1.53 million in the past year, Domain data shows.
In St Peters, nine parties registered to bid on a three-bedroom house at 73 Grove Street with a price guide of $1.55 million.
The bidding kicked off at $1.611 million with five parties making offers before the home sold for $1.81 million – $110,000 above the reserve.
The 180-square-metre property last sold for $990,000 in 2013, records show, the price almost doubling in seven years.
The property sold through BresicWhitney Glebe’s Brad Papaellinas for well above the $990,000 that records show it last sold for in 2013.
Mr Papaellinas said there was competitive bidding from local buyers looking to get more value for money in the area.
“Looking at areas like Erskineville, Newtown, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 6.5-metre wide place,” he said. “There’s lots of appetite out there for quality stock.”
In Paddington, four parties – an even split of young owner-occupiers and investors – registered to bid on a two-bedroom terrace at 97 Greens Road, which was guided at $1.6 million.
The auction opened at $1.55 million with the price raising quickly as three buyers vied for the keys to the house.
It sold for $1.78 million – $80,000 above the reserve – to a young couple.
PPD Real Estate’s Sean Poche said it was a strong result for the first auction in the suburb in 2021.
“We had over 300 inquiries and 140 groups through,” Mr Poche said. “That’s nuts. The market is so strong at the moment.”
“We have had lots of good quality buyers. Finance approved, determined to secure something and ready to transact. I haven’t seen it this strong in the past 10 years.”
The 90-square-metre property last sold for $1.328 million in 2015, records show.
The suburb’s median house price rose 10.7 per cent to $2.54 million in the past year.
In Marrickville, 33 buyers registered to bid on a two-bedroom house at 2 Harney Street.
The 341-square-metre block was on the market from the opening bid of $1.4 million, which was bang on the reserve price.
The deceased estate sold for $1.73 million, $330,000 above reserve, to a buyer who was looking to build a house for his son, according to Adrian William’s Adrian Tsavalas.
The property last sold for $168,500 in 1992, records show.
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