Unlivable Redfern terrace sells for $1,025,000, or $85,000 less than last time

An unlivable Redfern terrace that a squatter once tried to claim the rights to sold for $1,025,000 on Saturday, less than it traded for in 2017.

The dilapidated two-bedroom terrace at 544 Elizabeth Street sold to a builder after its auction, having passed in at $1 million despite interest from six registered bidders.

SOLD - $1,025,000

544 Elizabeth Street, Redfern NSW 2016

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While a sizeable result given the condition of the home, the price tag was $85,000 below the $1.11 million the terrace previously traded for in 2017.

It was one of 599 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 55.8 per cent from 385 reported results, while 123 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The auction for the 113-square-metre block in Redfern was held off-site due to the state of the property and the wet weather. The bidding began at $800,000 with three bidders competing.

It quickly passed the $850,000 price guide but failed to reach the $1,025,000 reserve and the home was passed in. It sold to the highest bidder shortly afterwards.

Selling agent Mark Foy, of Belle Property Surry Hills, said it was a good result given the cooling market and sky-high building costs that had reduced the appeal of fixer-uppers. All interested parties had been builders, with most looking to spend $400,000 to $500,000 on the home.

“[The result is] a sign of market conditions and building costs going up, there are no renovators out here, they understand that build costs are too high now,” Foy said. “It’s a tricky market at the minute, definitely a buyer’s market.”

The terrace was previously at the centre of a 2016 legal battle between a Sydney banker, who tried to take possession of the vacant derelict home, and angry neighbours. The squatter’s claim was dismissed by the Supreme Court of NSW in late 2016, and the property was sold the following year.

The most recent owners had obtained development approval for upgrades and an extension, but decided not to go through with the build, Foy said.

SOLD - $2,450,000

22 Stafford Street, Stanmore NSW 2048

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In Stanmore, five buyers turned out to compete for a three-bedroom Federation home at 22 Stafford Street, which sold for $2.45 million.

The auction for the 297-square-metre block opened at $2 million, and four of the parties took part, driving the price past the $2.2 million price guide and $2.35 million reserve.

Buyers Anna Moule and Tim Atkins, upsizing from Balmain, were last to enter the competition and were shocked to walk away with the keys.

“We thought there would be a bit more competition,” Atkins said. “It’s around what we wanted to spend, we had a little fuel left in the tank but can now spend that on some cosmetic upgrades.”

The couple, who had been searching for a home since November, feared the price may go out of their range, having seen other homes soar well past expectations in previous months.

The result was above Stanmore’s median house price of $2,282,500, on Domain data, and well above the $295,000, that records show it traded for in 1994.

Selling agent Michael Harris, of Raine & Horne Newtown, described the market as “a bit hit-and-miss” but said realistic vendors were still seeing good buyer demand.

“Buyers know where market value is … and do not want to overpay,” he said.

SOLD - $5,700,000

9/55 The Crescent, Fairlight NSW 2094

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In Fairlight, a three-bedroom waterfront townhouse at 9/55 The Crescent sold for $5.7 million.

Following a vendor bid of $5 million, two of the three registered parties traded bids, pushing the price up in mostly $100,000 and $50,000 jumps, with the home selling for the reserve price.

A local family outbid downsizers from the northern suburbs for the home, which traded through Tim Mumford, of Stone Real Estate Manly. Records show the home last sold for $1,927,000 in 2006.

SOLD - $4,605,000

3 Hezlet Street, Chiswick NSW 2046

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In Chiswick, tension ran high at the auction of a deceased estate that sold for $4,605,000, with the underbidder snapping her bidding paddle in half and leaving the auction floor when she was outbid.

She was among five buyers, out of 11 registered bidders, who competed for the four-bedroom house with water views on the 506-square-metre block at 3 Hezlet Street. The home sold to a family from Sans Souci, who inspected it for the first time on auction day and plan to renovate it.

The property sold through Mario Carbone, of Ray White Drummoyne, who declined to give the reserve.