Sydney auctions: Riverview house draws 11 bidders, sells $225,000 above reserve

It took just nine bids and a matter of minutes for a home on Sydney’s lower north shore to sell for $225,000 above reserve to investors at auction on Saturday.

Eleven house hunters turned out to compete for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 16 Flaumont Avenue, Riverview, which sold for $2,525,000.

It was one of 759 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday.

By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 78.8 per cent from 604 reported results, while 71 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

But few buyers got a word in, with auctioneer Chris Scerri of Scerri Auctions taking a bid of $2.22 million within seconds of calling for an opening offer.

Two more buyers stuck their hands up, offering $2.28 million and $2.3 million, from which point the bidding climbed in $50,000 increments up to $2.5 million.

SOLD - $2,525,000

16 Flaumont Avenue, Riverview NSW 2066

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The home sold two bids later, for $2,525,000, to local investors who had been searching for a long-term investment property for about four months. Records show it last traded for $1,365,000 in 2009.

“We see all the apartments going up [in the area] and one day those people are going to want to go into a house,” said buyer Andrew, who declined to give his surname. “It’s a hot market and there’s not much stock.”

Selling agent Hazel McNamara of Raine & Horne Lane Cove said many of the interested buyers were looking to do a knockdown-rebuild on the 650-square-metre block but had been knocked out of the competition from the get-go due to the strong opening bid.

In neighbouring Lane Cove 16 bidders registered for a ‘blank canvas’ at 10 Dorritt Street which sold for $2,625,000 – almost $500,000 above the reserve.

Bidding on the three-bedroom, one-bathroom house started at $2 million and rose rapidly in $20,000 and $10,000 increments.

Once again, the strong start left many interested buyers out of the competition from the get-go, with just four house hunters making some 60 bids before the gavel fell.

But that did not stop five-year-old Jamie Watters from bringing the bidding to a halt with an offer of “infinity” to try to get his family involved in the race for the 1024-square-metre block, which backed onto a golf course.

“I just wanted to win,” he told Domain after the auction.

Ultimately, though, the contest came down to two other parents, both taking phone bids from their adult children.

The final party to join the race, a woman bidding on behalf of her son and daughter-in-law, forked out $2,625,000 to walk away with the keys.

The home sold through Nick Muzha of LITTLE Real Estate for $475,000 more than the reserve. The result was almost seven times the $380,000 that records show the property last traded for in 1995.

“We got pushed into the Lane Cove area; we were looking more on the North Sydney side of properties, but prices have just gone up,” said the successful bidder Miranda, who declined to give her surname.

She added a shortage of homes for sale in recent months had pushed prices higher, so the pair had decided to buy something they would renovate.

SOLD - $2,625,000

10 Dorritt Street, Lane Cove NSW 2066

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“This is not a COVID price; this is a COVID special but it’s being expensive rather than cheaper,” she added.

Auctioneer Tom Panos said the fear of missing out (FOMO) had returned for house hunters, with many desperate to buy before the end of the year.

“FOMO is back. There’s this fear that if you don’t buy this side of Christmas, you’ll come back after Christmas and you’ve got the good news of the vaccine, you add that to talk that there is going to be potentially negative [interest] rates and people have got a fear of missing out,” he said.

“The absorption rate of stock is the best I’ve seen in 35 years, which basically means the [numbers] of buyers there are per property is the highest I’ve ever seen … but it’s not the case for units, it’s just the case for houses.”

SOLD - $1,605,500

6 Sims Grove, Maroubra NSW 2035

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In the eastern suburbs, six registered bidders turned out for the auction of a three-bedroom, three-bathroom Maroubra semi on the market for the first time in 20 years.

Four of the house hunters actively bid on the property at 6 Sims Grove, with bidding kicking off at $1.5 million, then climbing in $25,000 and $10,000 increments.

The active bidders — mostly a mix of young couples and families — got right down to raises of $500 before the gavel fell at $1,605,000.

The home sold through Marnie Seinor and Connor Mirotsos of McGrath Coogee. The vendors, who plan to eventually relocate to the Central Coast, were very pleased with the result for their family home.