'This is a good sign for the market': Properties sell before auction in Sydney's blue-chip areas

Sydney’s residential real estate market held steady at the weekend as the number of properties put up for auction marginally increased.

Domain Group reported an auction clearance rate of 57.6 per cent from 329 auctions reported on Saturday. It was a better result than the 56.3 per cent posted on the previous weekend from a smaller tally of 295 auctions.

But with the spring selling season kicking off next Saturday, more “under the radar” sales are taking place, with homes selling in off-market deals or prior to a booked auction.

“This is a good sign for the market,” said The Agency’s national sales director Thomas McGlynn.

He was meant to auction eight Sydney properties at the weekend but saw five of them sell beforehand.

Mr McGlynn said the properties ranged from apartments in Redfern and Camperdown, priced between $700,000 and $850,000, to a house in Balmain with a $3 million-plus price tag.

He believes the underlying demand for inner-suburban properties across different price brackets is rock-solid, although he notes that prospective buyers are concerned about paying too much.

The top-priced reported sale on the weekend was for a house at 15 Vista Street, Greenwich. The three-bedroom, inter-war villa with harbour views sold prior for $3.55 million through Cunninghams.

The large Greenwich property had been in the same family for 83 years. Photo: Domain.com.au

In Leichardt, Belle Property Annandale attracted two registered bidders to a four-bedroom weatherboard, period home at 17 Hearn Street. Both bidders participated in the auction, with the renovated residence on 225 squares metres selling under the hammer for $2.1 million.

Selling agent Michael Halli said the home had the combination of the old and the new, which appealed to discerning buyers.

During the sales campaign, Belle issued eight contracts and had 60 groups of would-be buyers inspect the property.

The renovated period home boasted open-plan living and indoor-outdoor flow. Photo: Domain.com.au

Similarly robust inspection numbers are being reported by various agents active in Sydney’s inner-ring markets.

Mr McGlynn said one Randwick home, opened for inspection for the first time on Saturday, pulled 30 groups of prospective buyers: “And we just launched 44 Goodhope Street, Paddington, for auction in September. It is an iconic property with price expectations of $15 million – and there was a line out the door when I arrived.”

He maintained that the blue-chip areas of the lower north shore, the eastern suburbs and the inner west were each performing healthily.

But opportunities are opening up for well-researched buyers in some middle-ring and outer areas of the city as stock levels rise. The 56.3 per cent preliminary clearance rate for August 18 and 19 was revised down to 48.9 per cent once straggler results were counted. A similar revision is likely to pull down this weekend’s sales rate.