Sydney online auctions: Newport house sells for $3,375,000

A house on Sydney’s northern beaches has almost doubled in value in the space of three years, thanks to a cosmetic renovation and a surge in demand for homes in the region.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Newport sold for $3,375,000 at auction on Saturday, a result that was almost 90 per cent above the $1.8 million records show it last traded for in early 2018.

It was one of 515 properties scheduled for auction across Greater Sydney on Saturday for the fourth weekend of online auctions in the city-wide lockdown.

SOLD - $3,375,000

50 Foamcrest Avenue, Newport NSW 2106

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Bidding for the home at 50 Foamcrest Avenue, only 250 metres from the beach, started at $2.7 million and climbed in $100,000 jumps at first, then $50,000 and $25,000 raises up to $3.3 million, before dropping to smaller increases.

Three of five registered bidders made offers on the 556-square-metre block, pushing the price $275,000 above the $3.1 million reserve.

The winning bid of $3,375,000 was made by a lower north shore buyer, who remarked to her competition that she “could do this all day'” after topping the underbidder’s offer by $20,000.

The result was $1,575,000 above the property’s previous sale price and well above the suburb’s $2.25 million median house price, which climbed a whopping 23.3 per cent over the year to March.

Selling agent Lachlan Elder of LJ Hooker Mona Vale said the sizeable capital gain was largely driven by the market conditions rather than the renovations, which included a new kitchen, bathrooms and other cosmetic upgrades.

The floor plan was also reconfigured to turn one of the bedrooms and a bathroom into a separate self-contained living space, but the listing notes this could easily be reversed by removing a non-load-bearing wall.

Mr Elder said the bulk of interest had been from locals, with all interested parties bar the Willoughby buyers, already residing on the northern beaches.

He said strong buyer interest had continued throughout lockdown so far and that he preferred the use of one-on-one inspections, which reduced the viewings to serious buyers.