Cronulla home sells for $5.8m at auction, a massive $1.3m over reserve

A waterfront property on the market for the first time in decades sold for a staggering $1.3 million above reserve on Saturday in a hot auction that drew 15 bidders.

Hundreds of people turned out to watch the auction of the four-bedroom Cronulla home, one of 624 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday.

By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 86.3 per cent from 480 reported results, while 41 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

It was the third week in a row that Sydney’s preliminary rate climbed above 85 per cent.

In Cronulla, bidding on 2 Jibbon Street kicked off at $3.6 million and climbed rapidly in $100,000 increments – quickly passing the $4.5 million reserve – as five bidders duked it out for the property.

SOLD - $5,800,000

2 Jibbon Street, Cronulla NSW 2230

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It became a two-horse race from the $5.2 million mark, with two groups pushing the price up a further $600,000, with the 647-square-metre block eventually selling to a young local family for $5.8 million.

Selling agent Bill Tsounias of McGrath Sans Souci said the result smashed all price expectations.

“When two people really want it, that can really blow [the price] out of the water,” he said. “It’s a beautiful home, in a beautiful location.”

The home had been a long-term investment of the Breen family, of Breen Property, who once owned large landholdings in Sutherland Shire – and developed projects in the area like the Shearwater Landing estate at Greenhills Beach.

In Loftus a four-bedroom house at 19 Fourth Avenue drew a crowd of 100 with a whopping 42 buyer registrations.

The auction opened at $1.15 million – well below the guide of $1.3 million – with 10 competing parties driving the price up to $1.617 million, at which point the home sold to a local buyer who was looking to upsize in the suburb. The reserve was $1.38 million.

SOLD - $1,617,000

19 Fourth Avenue, Loftus NSW 2232

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Ray White Sutherland Shire’s Ruth Malone said the owners were adamant about taking the property to auction.

“A lot of people wanted to put in an offer before,” Ms Malone said. “I stuck to my guide from the very beginning. I turned down [offers] completely. There was no pricing talk. I didn’t even ask what people thought the price of the property was.”

The property last sold for $616,700 in 2003, records show.

In Marsfield, four buyers registered to bid on a five-bedroom house at 131 Vimiera Road.

The auction started at $1.5 million and saw all parties bid on the property, including an online bidder who was at a wedding in the Hunter Valley.

It sold for $1.81 million – $110,000 above reserve – to a local buyer who purchased it as an investment property, hoping to net extra rental income from the granny flat on the property.

SOLD - $1,810,000

131 Vimiera Road, Marsfield NSW 2122

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The Agency North’s Catherine Murphy said she had never had so many buyers asking if there were more homes available on the market.

“It is as buoyant as everyone is saying, it’s not just media hype,” Ms Murphy said. “Competition is ramping up and getting fiercer. Buyers are saying that it is very hard to secure something at the moment.”

The property sold for $865,000 in 2011, records show.

Marsfield’s median house price dropped 10.1 per cent to $900,000 in the year ending December 2020, Domain data shows.