Sydney auctions: Two Waverley semis sell for $651,000 price difference just weeks apart
A Waverley semi sold for $3.322 million at auction on Saturday, a staggering $651,000 more than its next-door neighbour fetched just seven weeks earlier.
Ray White Real Estate agent Justin Bell was left dumbstruck after the home smashed all price expectations on a Super Saturday of auctions.
Sydney’s soaring property prices were on full display at the auction of the two-bedroom, one-bathroom semi at 26 Varna Street, which drew 15 registered bidders.
Less than seven weeks earlier, on February 10, the neighbouring three-bedroom, one-bedroom semi at 28 Varna Street sold prior to auction for $2.671 million.
Both properties were on about 277 square metres of land. The first semi to sell also had a driveway and garage, although the second, more expensive, home was more presentable and marketed with the potential to turn a rear rumpus room into a garage.
“That was about six weeks ago, and [the price gap] was over $650,000,” said Mr Bell, who sold both properties. “This was the same size block, it was a bit more presentable, but it had no parking.”
Bidding on 26 Varna Street kicked off at $2.8 million, putting the price above the $2.5 million reserve and the neighbouring sale from the get-go.
Offers from five of the bidders pushed the price of the deceased estate a whopping $822,000 above the reserve, with the semi selling to a young family from Darlinghurst who had spent three years looking for their next home.
The property had been on the market for less than three weeks and been inspected by 140 groups.
The home had been held by one family for almost 50 years, with the sale encouraged by the strong result next door. Mr Bell said the beneficiaries had been in shock at the price that was achieved just a few weeks later.
It was one of 1188 properties scheduled to go under the hammer on Sydney’s first Super Saturday – when there are more than 1000 auctions – in three years.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 88.3 per cent from 865 reported results.
Another terrace in the city’s inner west drew 23 registered bidders and sold for $480,000 above reserve despite its dilapidated state.
Bidding on the two-bedroom home at 17 London Street, Enmore, opened at $1.3 million, but not before the auctioneer had knocked back one bidder’s attempt to kick the auction off at $800,000, and then $850,000, well below the $1.3 million guide.
Ten of the bidders competed for the 219-square-metre block, with the home selling to an investor for $1.83 million. The deceased estate sold through Joseph Tropiano of Stone Real Estate Newtown.
In the north-west, a three-bedroom townhouse sold to a first-home-buyer couple who were bidding via phone as they boarded a flight to Perth.
It was difficult for all of the seven bidders to get a word in as the auction of 7/24 Boundary Road, North Epping, opened with an offer of $1.2 million and quickly climbed past the $1.4 million reserve.
The first-home-buyer couple outbid three other active bidders, securing the home for a sale price of $1.522 million, just in the nick of time.
“You could hear the boarding call in the background,” said selling agent Catherine Murphy of The Agency, as their winning bid marked a great start to their holiday.
The sellers, who records show purchased the home for $1,112,500 in 2016, have upgraded in the area.
In the city’s south, a local investor forked out $1.594 million on a two-bedroom Cronulla apartment opposite the beach.
The unit at 3/81 Mitchell Road drew an opening bid of $1.1 million, with four of the seven registered bidders actively competing for the home for another 27 bids.
The apartment sold for $144,000 above reserve, through Mitchell Wynn of Highland Property Group.
Records show the unit last exchanged hands for $265,000 in 1997.
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