Sydney auctions: Haberfield house bought for $32,000 about 50 years ago fetches $3.255m
Hesitant bidders fought it out in a marathon auction for a deceased estate in the inner-west suburb Haberfield on Saturday, with the hammer eventually falling at $3.255 million.
The four-bedroom Federation house at 46 Waratah Street drew a crowd of more than two dozen, including six registered bidders, but the parties were wary of overpaying as Sydney house prices rocket to record heights.
It was one of 762 homes scheduled for auction in Sydney on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 84.8 per cent from 584 reported results.
Only half the registered bidders threw their hats in the ring in what ended up being a painstaking 40 minute-long auction that started with an opening bid of $2.5 million.
It was well below the initial price guide of $2.7 million and the revised guide of $3 million during the campaign – just one indication of buyers’ reluctance to pay too much.
The sell-off stalled at $2.65 million before a vendor’s bid of $3 million bumped up the price.
Agents were pacing the auction floor between the two interested buyers in an effort to draw out big bids to hit the reserve. One party bid against themselves, and the house was still not called on the market, prompting them to start walking away.
The original reserve price of $3.25 million was revised down to $3.15 million to meet the market, although once it passed that mark, two buyers picked up their feet.
The sellers got the result they hoped for when the hammer eventually fell at $3.255 million to downsizers from Concord, who almost walked away from the auction altogether.
Buyer Sharon Teran said the auction was drawn out.
“I think they weren’t realistic. They were not putting it on the market,” Ms Teran, adding that in the end, they did pay a fair price for the property.
The buyers hoped to restore the home to its former glory rather than knocking it down after other parties eyed its development potential because it was on a wide block.
More homes had trickled onto the market in Haberfield in the days leading up to the auction, which may have been a factor in the buyer hesitation, according to Cooleys Auctions auctioneer Michael Garofolo.
But another reason was the rate of price growth, which was “unsustainable”, Mr Garofolo said.
“Maybe everyone is saying the demand is still there, but we’re pulling up the handbrake on the price,” he said. “It is statistically the most expensive time to buy in Sydney, so it’s fair enough.
“There comes a point where everybody has a limit. Even if interest rates go to zero, you can only borrow so much.”
The sale through selling agent Ross Musso of Raine and Horne – Concord netted a tidy result for the family who bought it for $32,000 about five decades ago, according to the children of the owners.
The median house price in Haberfield reached $2.215 million in December 2020, on Domain data.
In Arncliffe, 15 buyers registered to bid on a three-bedroom bungalow at 7 Mount Street.
Bidding opened at $1.29 million – almost at the top end of the price guide of $1.3 million.
Eight parties vied for the keys to the property before it whittled down to just three buyers at the $1.5 million mark.
It eventually sold for $1.57 million – $220,000 above the reserve – to a young couple who had been priced out from the inner west, selling agent Sam Abbas of Stone Real Estate Rockdale said.
He said while this result was still a premium for the property, many buyers were thinking twice before buying.
“There are still a lot of active buyers out there, but they are thinking twice before going in all guns blazing.”
The owners who were hoping to upsize to the Northern Beaches bought the property for $656,000 in 2011, records show, with the price more than doubling in less than a decade.
The median house price in Arncliffe reached $1.196 million in December 2020, Domain data show.
In Waverton, a two-bedroom apartment at 9/19-21 Crows Nest Road sold for $1.451 million to an investor, outbidding a downsizer from Beecroft.
Seven buyers registered to bid, with five actively raising the price from the $1.3 million opening – above the $1.25 million price guide from the outset. The reserve was $1.35 million.
Belle Property Cammeray’s Tom Scarpignato said the sheer number of buyers against the backdrop of limited stock and low interest rates continued to fuel competition.
It last sold for $730,000 in 2013, records show.
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