Sydney auctions: Marrickville unit sells for $1,155,000 on bumper auction day
Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate has fallen to its lowest point since July, after more homes were listed for sale post-lockdown, giving buyers more choice.
There were 1029 Sydney homes scheduled to go under the hammer on the auction Super Saturday, amid a bumper end to the spring selling season.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 71.3 per cent from 738 reported results, while 148 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The last time the preliminary figure was lower was on July 3, at 69.4 per cent, the first full weekend of Sydney’s Delta lockdown. Before that, the last time it was lower was October 17, 2020, at 70.0 per cent.
The preliminary figure is likely to be revised down a few percentage points as more results are reported. A clearance rate of 70 per cent roughly correlates to 10 per cent annual price growth.
Although the most sought-after homes have been fetching strong premiums over reserve on auction floors, some vendors are accepting pre-auction offers or negotiating with buyers after a property passes in.
First-home buyers were out in force for the auction of a Marrickville apartment on Saturday, despite healthy listings volumes giving buyers more homes to choose from.
Eight first-home buyers turned out for the auction of 22/295 Victoria Road.
Bidding for the two-bedroom apartment – with a large rooftop terrace and city views – opened strong at $980,000, well above the $900,000 price guide, and hit the $1 million reserve on the second bid.
It then climbed in a mix of $10,000 and $5000 increments, with auctioneer Ricky Briggs taking offers from five of the eight first-home buyers. The only non-first-home buyer interested, an expat planning to bid over the phone, did not make an offer.
The opening bidder, from Petersham, also made the winning bid of $1,155,000 for the 180-square-metre apartment. The result was well above the suburb’s $782,000 median unit price, and the $520,000 that the apartment last sold for in 2006, records show.
“It’s a little bit more than I wanted to spend, but I didn’t top out,” said buyer Michelle, who declined to give her surname.
While she had initially hoped to buy a house, she found she needed to turn to an apartment to stay in the inner west, and was drawn to this unit for its size and light.
Seller Nevena Zakhariev said she was blown away by the result, and would now look to buy a property in the Blue Mountains.
“We needed a bigger space and can’t afford a bigger space in the city,” she said of the decision to make a tree change.
Despite a post-lockdown increase in homes for sale, good properties were still selling really well, said Jason Ballo of Belle Property Annandale.
“There’s more stock on the market and that’s caused a little dilution of buyers, but we’re still seeing some tremendous results for quality properties.”
In Mortlake, five house hunters registered to bid on a four-bedroom waterfront home with a marina berth, which sold for $320,000 above the reserve.
The bidding for 47 Hilly Street started at $3.1 million and climbed in $100,000 jumps up to $3.7 million, quickly passing the $3.3 million price guide and $3.4 million reserve, with three parties making offers before the fall of the gavel.
Downsizers from the north shore made the winning offer of $3.72 million for the 288-square-metre block, which sold through Ben Horwood, of Horwood Nolan. Records show it last traded for $740,000 in 1993.
In the eastern suburbs, a six-bedroom house in Edgecliff was passed in on a vendor bid of $8 million, with both of the two interested local buyers refraining from bidding. Selling agent James Ball of Ballard Property was negotiating with both parties post-auction on Saturday and noted he had received a pre-auction offer of $7.8 million for the home at 35 Cameron Street.
A four-bedroom house in nearby Paddington – 14 Sutherland Avenue – was also passed in on a vendor bid of $8 million on Saturday afternoon, while a five-bedroom Coogee house at 350 Alison Road passed in on a vendor bid of $4.6 million, and a three-bedroom semi at 46A Haig Street, Maroubra, passed in after a single bid of $2.6 million.
Auctioneer Damien Cooley, of Cooley Auctions, said the increase in homes on the market had given buyers more choice and reduced competition – with their auctions on Saturday drawing an average of 4.4 bidders, compared to 10 in lockdown.
“The buyer pool is still coping well … one thing that we’re not seeing as much of though is those run-away results, they’re happening, but not as much,” Mr Cooley said.
Buyers were being more selective in their search as more homes were listed, and were not prepared to compete as aggressively as they had three months ago, Mr Cooley said. Buyer fatigue has also set in, and house hunters were winding up property searches as the end of the year approached.
The group’s own clearance rate was sitting at 73 per cent, as of early Saturday afternoon, which Mr Cooley said was incredible given the higher number of auctions scheduled.
While a typically busy time of year, the number of homes scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday was higher than usual – up almost 40 per cent on the five-year average for the same Saturday in previous years – and will climb higher next week, when more than 1150 auctions are scheduled.
Many homes have been selling ahead of auction day, with the sold-prior rate – which peaked at more than 50 per cent in lockdown – still sitting above 40 per cent in recent weeks, Domain figures show.
On the northern beaches, a two-bedroom Queenscliff apartment was among the properties that made it to the auction floor.
All four registered bidders for the apartment at 4/130 Queenscliff Road made offers, with the bidding opening at $1.1 million, and increasing in $50,000 jumps to start, then slowing down to $5000 increases before the gavel fell.
The 94-square-metre apartment sold for $1.66 million, $260,000 above the reserve price. It was purchased by a local couple who are relocating to Port Macquarie but want to maintain a base on the northern beaches.
The home was sold through Tim Cullen of McGrath Manly, who had interest in the property from both local and north shore buyers. The sellers, who records show purchased the unit for $706,000 in 2013, will be trading up to a house on the north shore.
Back in the inner west, a two-bedroom Balmain terrace sold for $1.7 million, with three of the six registered bidders pushing the price $250,000 above the reserve.
The 139-square-metre block at 7 Elliott Street was sold to a local family through Danny Cobden of CobdenHayson Balmain. Records show it last sold for $625,000 in 2005.
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