Sydney auctions: Family outbids developers for older-style $3.3m Leichhardt house, smashing suburb record
A local family has outbid a slew of developers to snap up an older-style Leichhardt house at auction for $3.3 million, about $550,000 above the reserve.
Most of the 26 registered bidders were looking to knock down the home or land-bank, and the hot competition pushed the price to a new suburb record.
It was one of 851 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday, making it the city’s busiest auction day since February.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 76.4 per cent from 658 reported results, while 80 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
About 100 people gathered for the auction of the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 88 Edith Street, which was on the market for the first time since 1959.
Auctioneer Jake Moore of Cooley Auctions had barely finished calling for an opening offer when a local family kicked off the bidding at $2.85 million – already $100,000 above the reserve.
It climbed quickly from there, mostly in a mix of $50,000 and $25,000 jumps that left the majority of the bidders — almost all developers or investors — watching on.
Four developers threw their hats in the ring, but it was the local family — the first to bid and the first to register for the auction midweek — who walked away with the keys. They plan to build their dream family home on the 555-square-metre block.
“They said they were going to come in really strong and fast and they did,” said selling agent Santos Sulfaro of Cobden & Hayson Annandale.
The winning bid of $3.3 million set a new house price record for the suburb and left sellers Maria Parfitt and Nina Grech “shocked, surprised and elated”.
Their late father bought the house, built in 1870, for $4250 almost 61 years ago to the day. Having both grown up in the home and suburb, they were sad to say goodbye but very pleased with the result.
“We’re happy and very surprised, we didn’t think it would get to where it did,” said Ms Grech. “The market now is ridiculous.”
The result tops the $3,113,000 that records show a three-bedroom house on a similar sized block sold for on neighbouring Elswick Street in 2017.
It was the last auction of the year for Mr Santos, who had been seeing very strong buyer demand in recent months.
“Given this year has been such a rollercoaster a lot of people have held back. Now that it’s looking a lot more positive … and there’s talk of [the market] next year being a lot hotter; people are looking to get in now.”
A couple of suburbs away, eight first-home buyers turned out to compete for a two-bedroom terrace in Erskineville.
The auction for 129 Rochford Street opened at $1.25 million and hit the $1.3 million reserve on the second bid, then jumped to $1.35 million.
It climbed mostly in $10,000 increases from there, with five of the first-home buyers making offers before the gavel fell at $1.49 million.
The three-storey terrace on a 129-square-metre block sold through Shaun Stoker of Ray White Erskineville to a couple in their early thirties. Records show it last traded for $207,500 in 1995 and was most recently rented out for $670 a week.
In the eastern suburbs, four buyers made offers on a tightly held one-bedroom cottage in Paddington which sold for $110,000 above its reserve. The 57-square-metre property was on the market for the first time in almost 70 years.
After bidding for 1 Windsor Lane began at $950,000 it climbed in $10,000 jumps, then dropped right down to $1000 increments before picking up more steam towards the tail end of the race.
The 1880s cottage sold for $1.24 million through Susannah Anderson of The Agency Eastern Suburbs. The new owner plans to both live in, and run their business from, the two-storey home.
Further to the south-east, four bids were all it took for a two-bedroom semi in Eastgardens to sell for $100,000 above the reserve.
The home at 27 Boonah Avenue drew 22 registered bidders, who were all first-home buyers with the exception of one downsizing couple.
The auction started at $1.1 million, then jumped to $1.3 million, $1.4 million and sold for $1.5 million – with each bid made by a different buyer.
While well and truly outnumbered, it was the downsizers who had the deepest pockets and snapped up the home, which they plan to renovate and extend.
Nick Papas of Century 21 Eastern Beaches Maroubra said low levels of stock had created strong demand for those homes headed to auction in the final weeks of the year.
In the city’s north-west, fierce competition saw a three-bedroom Eastwood house sell for $300,000 above reserve, fetching $1.98 million.
The home at 8 Graham Avenue drew 23 registered bidders, only eight of which made offers on the 682-square-metre block.
Auctioneer Michael Garofolo, also of Cooley Auctions, took a solid opening offer of $1.5 million which knocked out much of the competition from the start. Bidding rose in $50,000 and $25,000 increments up to $1.7 million, then dropped to $10,000 and $5000 raises.
The deceased estate sold through Gavin McCutcheon of Raine & Horne Baulkham Hills/Eastwood to a local family who plan to build their dream home on the block.
“The market is on the move, people are really sensing that prices are rising,” Mr Garofolo said.
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