Sydney online auctions: Family splashes $4.82m on Avalon Beach house
A two-person race pushed the price of a northern beaches sandstone cottage more than $700,000 above reserve to $4.82 million at virtual auction on Saturday.
The award-winning home in Avalon Beach drew four bidders, but only two took part after the auction price guide of $3.8 million was surpassed on the opening bid.
It was one of 488 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 82.9 per cent from 375 reported results, while 36 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding on the four-bedroom home at 139 Palmgrove Road began at $3.85 million, hit $4 million on the second bid and then rose in mostly $100,000 and $50,000 jumps past the $4.1 million reserve and up to $4.7 million, before slowing to smaller increases.
The renovated 1930s cottage sold for $4.82 million to a family relocating from the inner city.
The result was more than 10 times the $467,500 that records show the property last traded for in 1997 – back when it was a rundown cottage with its roof caving in. It was transformed in the decades since by architect and owner Richard Cole.
Selling agent James Baker of McGrath Pittwater said the result reflected the strength of the Avalon market, which was seeing strong demand from northern beaches buyers, as well as those looking to relocate from the city and eastern suburbs, inner west and north shore.
House prices in the suburb jumped a whopping 27.7 per cent last financial year to a median of $2,512,500.
On the lower north shore, a vacant block of land owned by the state government sold for more than $5 million.
The 484-square-metre block at 60 Kareela Road Cremorne Point was on the market from the opening bid of $4 million. Three of the seven registered bidders made offers, trading more than 70 bids to push the sale price up to $5.039 million.
The property sold through Matthew Smythe, of Belle Property Neutral Bay, to a local boutique developer.
A block of six apartments previously sat on the site and was compulsorily acquired by the government for demolition after loose-fill asbestos was found. Records show Property NSW spent a total of about $7.088 million on the six units in 2018.
In the inner west, downsizers walked away with the keys to a three-bedroom Newtown terrace, which also drew interest from experienced property flippers and upsizers looking to renovate.
The auction for 2 Pine Street was slow to start. An optimistic buyer had an offer of $1.6 million knocked back, as it was well below the $2.3 million price guide, and the bidding eventually got underway at $1.9 million.
More than 40 bids were made from there, with nine of the 13 registered bidders pushing the price $275,000 above the reserve.
The 139-square-metre block sold for $2.575 million through Duncan Gordon of Raine & Horne Newtown. Records show it last traded for $740,000 in 2003.
About 90 people inspected the property, Mr Gordon said, with interested parties looking to spend anywhere from $200,000 to $800,000 renovating the terrace.
He noted a similar terrace nearby – an original condition four-bedroom home just off King Street – had sold for $2.25 million in July.
The strong sales come after Sydney’s median auction price for houses hit a record $1.92 million in August, Domain figures show, and the city recorded a monthly clearance rate of 77.3 per cent. Unit prices also hit a record high, recording an auction median of $1.113 million.
In Drummoyne, an investor outbid first-home buyers for a two-bedroom apartment in waterfront block, which sold for $1,406,500.
The apartment at 18/104 Lower St Georges Crescent had interest from 20 registered bidders, mostly owner occupiers, but less than half of the parties made offers after the bidding opened at $1,165,000.
The 113-square-metre apartment was sold through Fiona Hellams of Ray White Drummoyne, fetching $206,500 above the $1.2 million reserve.
The unit last sold for $605,000 in 2003, records show.
Back on the northern beaches, four bidders competed for a two-bedroom beachfront apartment in Queenscliff that sold for $2.17 million – $420,000 above reserve.
The bidding on 9/30-32 Queenscliff Road opened on the $1.7 million price guide, hit the $1.75 million reserve on the second bid, and quickly climbed in $50,000 jumps up to $2.05 million, pushing many of the 11 registered bidders out of the running.
The 79-square-metre apartment sold to local upgraders through Matt McEwan of McGrath Manly.
Records show it last sold for $832,500 in 2010.
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