Sydney online auctions: Haberfield house soars $2.02 million above reserve
A four-bedroom Haberfield house sold for a whopping $2.02 million above reserve at virtual auction on Saturday, as Sydney’s property market takes off this spring.
More than 20 buyers registered to bid on 17 Waratah Street, which sold for $7.02 million – smashing the previous suburb record by $770,000.
It was one of 569 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 83.7 per cent from 423 reported results, while 51 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding for the Haberfield home opened at $4.75 million and was slow to start, lifting in mostly $25,000 rises, before picking up momentum. Six of the registered bidders competed, with the property selling to a local upsizing family.
The vendors and selling agent Michael Tringali, of McGrath Leichhardt, were shocked by the result, which soared past the $5 million reserve price and the price guide of $4.8 to $5.2 million.
“This is a result that nobody expected and a result that is beyond even the vendor’s dreams,” Mr Tringali said.
“There is just nothing on the market, it’s absolutely a one off and this is realigning prices for the entire suburb.”
Haberfield house prices jumped about 14 per cent over the year to June to a median of $2,587,500.
The 695-square-metre property last sold for $1.33 million in 2008, records show.
Elsewhere, a three-bedroom house on the northern beaches sold for $5.1 million at auction, with competition from six bidders pushing the price $1 million above the reserve.
Bidding on 30 Surf Road, North Curl Curl, just steps from Curl Curl Lagoon, opened at $4 million and quickly passed the $4.1 million reserve as six of the 10 registered bidders made offers on the beach house, which has a studio or fourth bedroom in the backyard.
Interested local families dropped out of the race as the bidding climbed, leaving the competition to two downsizers. A couple from the lower north shore made the winning bid for the 322-square-metre block.
The home also drew interest from buyers from the inner west, upper north shore and Darwin.
The result was more than three times the $1,475,000 that records show the home last traded for in 2006, and well above the property’s initial $3.7 million price guide, which was scrapped by selling agent James Eyden of Clarke & Humel Property as stronger buyer feedback came in during the campaign.
Mr Eyden had thought the unique floor plan of the three-storey home – part of which was used for short-term holiday stays – may have held back the sale price, but it went well above expectations.
He said prices in the suburb had jumped more than 30 per cent over the past year, with solid interest still being seen from out-of-area buyers prioritising lifestyle over proximity to the city centre, amid the pandemic.
In the eastern suburbs, an original-condition North Bondi semi on the market for the first time in decades sold for $600,000 above the reserve.
Bidding for the three-bedroom home at 20 Wairoa Avenue was quick to start, with a US-based Aussie expat kicking off proceedings with an offer of $3.02 million – topping the $3 million reserve, which buyers were given upfront.
From there, bidding climbed quickly, jumping in increments ranging from $50,000 down to $5000, with auctioneer Clarence White of Menck White Auctioneers taking offers from six of the 11 registered bidders.
A family upgrading from an apartment in Rushcutters Bay made the winning bid of $3.6 million.
The vendor was delighted with the result for the property, which had been first purchased by her mother-in-law and held in the family for decades. Records show it traded for £2350 in 1957.
Selling agent Mary Anne Cronin of PPD Real Estate said interested parties had been looking to spend anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to $1 million to renovate the property.
The 292-square-metre property had been on the market for just over two weeks, with the auction brought forward due to strong buyer demand.
On the north shore another tightly held home – owned by the same family since 1954 – drew strong interest, with 16 bidders tuning in for the auction of 12 Toongarah Road, Waverton.
The four-bedroom property, currently configured as two self-contained residences, drew an opening offer of $3.4 million.
The bidding rose in $100,000 and $50,000 jumps to start, with competition from six of the bidders pushing the sale price up to $4.2 million – $405,000 above the reserve.
Buyers were looking to spend an extra $500,000 to $2 million on top of the sale price to renovate the largely original home, which sits in a conservation area.
The 500-square-metre block sold to an investor through Tom Scarpignato, of Belle Property Neutral Bay.
Further west, a six-bedroom house on a 557-square-metre block set a new price record in North Ryde, just slipping past the previous suburb record by $10,000.
Eight buyers registered to bid on 8 Berryman Street, with five actively competing to push the price from an opening offer of $2.9 million – bang on the auction price guide – to a sale price of $3.44 million.
The result was $290,000 above the $3.15 million reserve, and just eclipsed the previous suburb record of $3.43 million, set by a newer five-bedroom house on a 614-square-metre block in Wilson Street in July. Both were sold by Phillip Allison of Belle Property Ryde.
Mr Allison said the winning bidder, and a couple of the underbidders, had previously missed out on at least three properties auctioned with the team.
The property last sold in 2014 for $1.3 million, when it was the site of an original-condition three-bedroom house.
In the inner west, a three-bedroom semi at 187 Denison Road, Dulwich Hill, sold for $1,815,000.
Five of the 10 registered bidders took part in the auction, which opened with an offer of $1.4 million. They pushed the price $265,000 above the reserve.
The 189-square-metre block sold through Luke Northcott of Ray White Petersham.
The semi last traded for $126,000 in 1991.
In the inner city, a three-bedroom terrace in Chippendale traded for $1,625,000, after drawing interest from 14 parties.
Bidding on the 70-square-metre block at 27 O’Connor Street kicked off at $1.4 million, with six parties making offers. The result was $125,000 above the reserve.
The property sold through Brad Gillespie of The Agency Eastern Suburbs to an investor from Eastwood.
The terrace last sold for $512,500 in 2006.
Lockdown is pushing prices up, rather than the reverse, as workers lucky enough to keep their jobs take advantage of low interest rates to buy lifestyle properties they can enjoy while spending almost all their time at home.
BresicWhitney head of sales Thomas McGlynn said buyers were keen and willing to compete for the few homes for sale to get a better lifestyle while staying home.
“Lockdown has shone a light on the quality of life you have living in your home,” he said.
“It’s driving people to pay a lot more for property than they would if they were out, on holidays.”
Ray White NSW chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said properties taken to auction were achieving prices about 13 per cent higher than their best pre-auction offers, and there were about 10 registered bidders per auction on average.
He said buyers are confident to make decisions because interest rates are so low, and the Reserve Bank has repeatedly flagged plans to keep rates low for some time.
“Money’s cheap – even with the property prices the way they are now, it’s still significantly cheaper to own property per month now than it was a couple of years ago,” he said.
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