Sydney auctions: Semi-rural Kenthurst lifestyle property smashes reserve by $661,000

A semi-rural lifestyle property in Sydney’s north-west has sold for $2,661,000, smashing its reserve by more than half a million dollars in a marathon auction.

The 50-minute-long sale of 43 Jones Road in Kenthurst started with an opening bid of $1.8 million but soon stalled despite five registered bidders.

But a vendor bid of $2 million kicked off the competition for the two-hectare block between a young Kellyville family and a buyer from Yagoona.

A two-horse race ensued for more than 300 bids, pushing the price well above the $2 million reserve.

The young Kellyville family walked away with the keys to the four-bedroom property and plan to demolish the house to build their own.

It was one of 340 auctions held in Sydney on Saturday.

By evening, Domain Group had recorded a 72.8 per cent clearance rate from 240 reported results.

Benson Auctions auctioneer Stu Benson said the result was incredibly rare in the current market.

“These two [bidders] got carried away,” Mr Benson said. “There were plenty of silences and plenty of opportunities to sell this thing.”

But the two parties obliged in raising the price as Mr Benson called for more bids.

“It spurred them [to bid], wave after wave, every time we thought this auction had finished, it just kept going,” he said.

“They were standing right next to each other. They were very gentlemanly about it but neither wanted to concede.”

While he did not think the buyer overpaid for the property, Mr Benson believed it would have sold for less by private treaty.

“[The two parties] were validating publicly and loudly what the property was worth,” Mr Benson said. “That’s the beauty of the auction process – if it’s worth a dollar more, someone will say it.”

Mr Benson said buyers had sensed the market was bottoming out and were jumping back in.

“There’s the sentiment that this is as good as it’s going to get,” he said. “I think there is a sense that nobody wants to have missed out. That’s what’s fuelling the activity in the clearance rates.”

Blamey Gibson selling agent Andrew Blamey said the vendor’s reasonable reserve also helped achieve the result.

“My vendors were accepting of my opinion … they listened and we had a competitive environment [because of it],” Mr Blamey said.

Meanwhile in Sydney’s south, a crowd of about 50 people gathered to watch a run-down double-brick house at 31 Ireton Street, Malabar, go under the hammer.

Auctioneer Kim Stewart was met with silence when he called for opening bids on the three-bedroom home.

“It might be heritage-listed if we wait any longer,” Mr Stewart joked to the crowd.

A vendor bid of $1,525,000 got the sell-off under way, followed by increments of mostly $10,000 from four bidders.

It sold for $1.87 million – $170,000 above reserve – to a Mascot family who had been looking for their next property purchase for about a year.

The successful buyer Cheewei Cawthorne said the price almost went above her limit.

She and her family plan to knock it down and rebuild.

Gladstone Realty selling agent Greg Gladstone said it was the best auction he had had in almost 18 months.

“It obviously shows a lot more buyers back in the marketplace and renewed confidence,” Mr Gladstone said.

“We’ve probably had our best month in the past 12 months,” he added, saying it was due to the combination of the Coalition returning to government, interest rate cuts and a stock shortage.

“Hopefully now it’ll bring out people who want to sell their properties – they can see the market is pretty good now there’s no shortage of buyers.”

His comments come as Sydney’s housing market downturn appears to be near its end, with the pace of house price falls slowing to just 0.4 per cent in the June quarter on Domain figures. 

In Surry Hills, another run-down property sold under the hammer, exceeding its reserve, at 495 Crown Street.

The two-bedroom terrace fetched $1,435,000 – selling $85,000 above reserve.

Five of the 12 registered parties threw their hat in the ring, including architects who were sizing up the building as an office and home thanks to its mixed-use zoning.

But a property developer who lives in Bellevue Hill walked away with the keys.

In Riverwood, a three-bedroom house at 6 Urquhart Street sold at auction for $878,000 – $87,000 above reserve.

A mix of first-home buyers, investors and upsizers made up the 13 parties who registered to bid, but only four were active.

Competitive bidding by two parties drove up the price with a first-home buyer couple the victors.

Paramount Real Estate selling agent Robert Seib said about 80 groups inspected the property.

“The interest was very strong and solid so we did anticipate a good response … 13 registered bidders is above the industry’s norm,” he said.