Sydney auctions: Clearance rate improves despite more properties sold before auction

Sydney’s auction clearance rate showed improvement at the weekend, despite cracks in seller confidence, with more properties selling before auction rather than under the hammer.

The preliminary clearance rate on Saturday was 64.6 per cent, up from last week’s rate of 59.3 per cent, after 471 scheduled auctions and 270 reported results. The rate included 77 withdrawn auctions.

There were 101 properties sold at auctions across the city, compared with 123 sold before auctions scheduled for Saturday, preliminary results show.

The high number of properties being sold before auctions indicated many vendors were not confident they would see strong results at auction, Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said.

“It’s a bit of negativity and highlights some nervousness,” Dr Powell said. “It shows we’re not in a buoyant market.”

But she said the clearance rate was still robust given underlying economic pressures brought on by COVID-19, and that, so far, Sydney had had minimal price falls.

Sydney’s highest-priced property sold at auction on Saturday was a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Vaucluse, on the market for the first time in 65-years. It sold for $5,695,000.

The price was substantially more than the undisclosed reserve, Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty agent Michael Pallier said, with five registered bidders going toe to toe at the auction of 61 Village High Road.

“It’s a house that suited a lot of people,” Mr Pallier said. “There was a wide range of buyers interested.”

SOLD - $5,690,000

61 Village High Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030

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He said the top three buyers were a couple buying for their daughter, a Chinese expat who was living in a hotel and actively looking to buy and a local buyer, who secured the property.

“There are lots of expats looking to buy at the moment,” he said.

At another auction, a former wedding reception house in Arncliffe that had been in the same family for 60 years sold for $2.14 million, $390,000 more than the reserve.

The auction lasted 45 minutes, with four of the 10 registered bidders putting their hands up to secure the property at 120 Forest Road, Ray White auctioneer Alex Pataro said.

SOLD - $2,014,000

120 Forest Road, Arncliffe NSW 2205

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More than 100 bids were entered, Mr Pataro said, starting at $1.45 million and finishing at $2.14 million, well past the reserve of $1.75 million.

“A local family bought the property and they plan to develop the block,” Mr Pataro said.

In Maroubra, a young family snapped up a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home after a lively auction that had three of the four registered bidders compete for the property, McGrath Coogee agent Marnie Senior said.

“They were all home-owners, so quite emotional buyers,” Ms Senior said. “They were there to bid.”

The property at 78 Torrington Road sold for $2,503,000 – $78,000 more than the reserve price – which, Ms Senior said, was a typical price for a home in the area.

SOLD - $2,503,000

78 Torrington Road, Maroubra NSW 2035

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She said prices in blue-chip areas were not being affected by the recession brought on by the pandemic, and that people were still looking to buy.

“Open homes all day yesterday were really quite busy,” she said.

To the north-east of the city in Baulkham Hills, a three-bedroom house on an expansive 1758-square-metre block sold for $1,612,5000, $12,000 more than the reserve, auctioneer Ben Mitchell said.

He said the property at 3 Kenneth Avenue, listed by Manor Real Estate, was primed for development and attracted interest from five bidders – all with sights on improving the block.

“If developers are out, it’s a good sign for the market,” Mr Mitchell said.

SOLD - $1,612,500

3 Kenneth Avenue, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

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