Sydney auctions: Young couple nab Ashfield house for $1.46 million
An Ashfield deceased estate fetched $1.46 million at auction on Saturday, in a market that the auctioneer described as “good” without being “gangbusters”.
Spots in the shade were in strong demand for the 40-plus crowd who watched the three-bedroom home hit the market for the first time in decades, and as the temperature rose, so did the price.
The classic Californian bungalow — complete with a Hills Hoist and dunny out the back — was one of 771 Sydney properties scheduled for auction on Saturday, 135 of which were in the city’s inner west.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 78.1 per cent from 556 reported results, while 73 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The auction for 7 Page Avenue was slow to start, and auctioneer Michael Garofolo of Cooley Auctions had to call the property three times before getting an opening offer of $1.2 million. Counter offers from the remaining four registered couples were slow at first, with two edging the price up to $1.21 million and $1.22 million.
It was then that a fourth couple entered the race, increasing the price by $80,000 to the $1.3 million reserve. From there the bidding took off, with another dozen offers made before the winning bid of $1.46 million.
Selling agent Ross Musso of Raine & Horne Concord said the young family who bought the home – and all the unsuccessful bidders – were upsizing and planned to renovate the property, which sits in a conservation area. He said a shortage of stock had created strong demand for the entry-level home.
Mr Garofolo added: “I don’t want to use the B-word, ‘boom’, but I will use buoyant. The market is good. I won’t say it’s going gangbusters but we’re seeing religiously every week clearance rates in the 70s.
“And you’re having 5 or 6 people registered at many auctions, and either getting to the reserve or surpassing it.”
In Redfern, there were six registered bidders for a three-bedroom penthouse which was home to the late Maggi Eckardt – a former model and ex-wife of adman John Singleton – who died earlier this year.
Bidding on the park-side penthouse at 100/249 Chalmers Street, started at $2.39 million — just short of the $2.4 million reserve — and climbed quickly as five of the bidders competed.
Retirees downsizing from Woollahra walked away with the keys after outbidding a mix of fellow downsizers and younger families looking to upsize. The penthouse sold for $2,755,000 through Amber Riethmuller of BresicWhitney Darlinghurst.
Ms Riethmuller, who showed some 70 groups through the property, said the leafy outlook and the property’s size had made it popular for those looking to both downsize from houses and upsize from units.
The result was well above the $1.28 million that records show the property last traded for in 2007. The penthouse was owned by a company called Temten, of which Singleton is a current director.
A few suburbs over, 17 first-home buyers turned out for the auction of a one-bedroom Paddington apartment which sold for $52,000 above its reserve.
Bidding began at $500,000, and rose rapidly with about eight of the registered bidders throwing their hats in the ring to push the sale price up to $752,000.
“Even when people tried to slow the bidding down with $1000 or $3000 increments, it still kept climbing quickly,” said selling agent Imran Hamidi of McGrath Double Bay.
The unit at 5C/6 Hampden Street was bought by a first-home buyer who had spent about four months looking for her first home.
Mr Hamidi said the majority of the 141 groups shown through the property had been first-home buyers looking to break into the Paddington market.
Meanwhile eight first-home buyers turned out for the auction of a studio in Chippendale, spanning just 32 square metres internally with an additional 12-square-metre courtyard.
The auction for 5/13-21 Abercrombie Street opened at $480,000 and climbed in $10,000 jumps to the $550,000 reserve price. Five of the first-home buyers competed before the hammer fell, pushing the price up to $605,000.
The unit sold through Adrian Tsavalas of Adrian William to a young professional from the inner west. Records show it last traded for $337,000 in 2010.
In Lane Cove, local families pushed the price of a four-bedroom house $300,000 above reserve.
Half of the 10 registered bidders actively competed for the 714-square-metre block at 21 Fourth Avenue.
While most of the interest in the property was from young families looking to upsize, James Bennett of Belle Property Lane Cove said it was empty nesters looking to downsize who made the winning bid.
The vendors, who records show purchased the property for $570,000 in 1999, were selling to make a tree-change to Mudgee where they have bought a vineyard that they will be running together.
Back in the inner city, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment sold for $291,000 above reserve.
The auction opened at $1.5 million, wit a mix of investor and owner occupiers competing for the unit at 50/1 Tewkesbury Avenue Darlinghurst.
Five of the 10 registered bidders made offers on the home, which sold for $1.7 million, beating the $1,409,000 reserve, through George Karabalios of Eastside Realty.
The result was more than 10 times the $155,000 which records show it last sold for more than 30 years ago.
Auctioneer James Pratt said the boost of confidence seen in the housing market in recent months, appeared to be filtering into the apartment market.
“Houses have been selling really well,” he said. “This shows there’s also quite a bit of confidence in the apartment market.”
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