Young couple outbid investors at auction for North Epping house

Winter home hunters are taking advantage of cooling market conditions to snag prime real estate at auction.

On Saturday upgraders Nick and Megan Blyth were delighted to find themselves competing with just one other active bidder at the auction of a three-bedroom North Epping house in a popular school catchment zone. 

“If I advertised this house at this price guide last year I would have had every man and his dog here, I would have had 20 registrations and today we had three, that’s how much the market has changed,” selling agent Catherine Murphy of The Agency North said.

It was one of 330 Sydney homes scheduled for auction on Saturday, a 31 per cent drop on the number of auctions held the same weekend last year. 

Of those listed auctions, 205 had results reported with a clearance rate of 59.7 per cent. 

Auctioneer Peter Matthews of The Agency North was greeted with silence when he called for an opening offer for 4 Walker Place despite the three registered bidders. 

A local investor couple eventually kicked off bidding at $1.3 million, which was met by the Blyths’ bid of $1.32 million.

The two couples went back and forth in $10,000 and $5000 jumps, with the investors dropping out at $1.35 million. But that wasn’t enough to secure the Blyths the home. 

The pair increased their offer on the 744-square-metre block to $1.36 million, then $1,363,000 – at which it sold for $3000 above reserve. 

The result fell short of the suburb’s $1,681,500 median house price, but was almost $1 million more than the $365,000 records show it last traded for in 1997.

Ms Murphy was pleased to get the property “over the line, at a time when most auctions aren’t clearing”.

Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate slumped to 47.8 per cent last weekend, one of the lowest results in 10 years.

The corrected result for last week fell further to low 43.1 per cent.

Ms Murphy said while some buyers were holding back, as they believed property prices would fall further, others were finding it harder to get finance approved. 

She noted while the surge in first-home buyers was helping to support the lower end of the property market, the $1 million to $3 million market was tough going. 

“We started out with a price guide of $1.5 million, it was only when it was reduced to $1.38 million that we started to get any interest,” Ms Murphy said. 

While the result was a little less than she hoped for, vendor Michelle Pombart was pleased to see her property sell in a “very stressful” cooling market. 

“I really can’t believe how much the market has changed,” she said. “I’m sure if we kept the house another three or four years the result might have been different, but we can’t do that.”

The Blyths were relieved to have sold their own Lane Cove apartment three months ago.

“We think we got in at the right time, if we had waited longer we would have had to sell for less,” Mr Blyth said. 

The pair, who have been looking to upsize since the start of the year, felt too many vendors had unrealistic price expectations in what is now a buyer’s market. 

“I really think vendors [expectations] haven’t caught up,” Mrs Blyth said. “We’re seeing lots of properties still on the market from when we first started looking.”

Meanwhile in the city’s inner west, a buyer attempted to start the bidding for a two-bedroom Annandale house at $800,000.

The bid for 175 Young Street was knocked back and bidding soon kicked off at $1.3 million, with three of six registered bidders making offers before the hammer fell.

The house sold through Tony Andreacchio of Raine & Horne Ashfield for $1,697,500, just short of the $1.7 million reserve. 

In nearby Chiswick a three-bedroom house at 26 Burns Crescent passed in without a bid, despite two families registering at the auction.

While the parties remained silent, they both wanted to negotiate with selling agent Su Lee of Raine & Horne Leichhardt post auction. She expects the property to sell in the coming week. 

In Marsden Park in the city’s north west it was a new release of apartments, rather than an auction, that drew in buyers. 

By Saturday afternoon three yet-to-be built apartments at masterplanned community Marsden Central had been snapped up.

The apartments, which had a combined worth of $1,533,000, were part of second-release sales for the Sole development.

Elsewhere in Sydney…

8 King Street, Bondi Photo: Supplied.

SOLD $1,882,000
Bondi
8 King Street
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 car space

A couple from Orange dug deep to snap up this deceased estate which sold $82,000 above reserve. Bidding opened at $1.6 million and while three parties made offers, it was mostly a two-man race between the country couple and an investor builder. The pair secured the home after a flurry of $5000 and $1000 bid jumps from the $1.8 million mark. They bought the property for their adult son, who is a builder, and daughter. The property sold through Mary Howell of The Agency

4/66a Murdoch Street, Cremorne Photo: Supplied.

SOLD $725,000
Cremorne
4/66a Murdoch Street
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 car space

While plenty of first-home buyers were keen on this apartment, it was an investor that got ahead on auction day. Bidding started at $680,000 and went up to $10,000 jumps before dropping right down to $1000 increments. There were six registered parties at the auction, but the bidding race came down to the investor and two-first home buyers. He secured the property for $5000 below the $730,000 reserve. The home sold through James Dorron of O’Gorman and Partners Real Estate Co and last sold for $430,000 in 2012.

15 Military Road Neutral Bay Photo: Supplied.

SOLD $1 million
Neutral Bay
15 Military Road
3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 0 car spaces

Of the 60 groups that inspected this deceased estate in need of a renovation, only four turned up to bid at auction. The first offer came in at $900,000 and bidding increased in $10,000 and $5000 jumps as three parties pushed the price up to $990,000. It looked set to sell, but then the last bidder— a young family — made their first and final bid, offering $1 million which secured them the keys at the reserve price. The semi sold through Jon Snead of The Agency Nort.

101 Victoria Street, Lewisham Photo: Supplied.

SOLD $1,050,000
Lewisham
​101 Victoria Street
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 car space

This Victorian semi was snapped off the market just minutes after it failed to sell under the hammer. When the sole registered bidder remained silent, the 240-square-metre property was passed in. Selling agent Emma Bitti of Ray White Petersham then negotiated a sale with the bidder straight after the auction. She noted buyers were no longer feeling the pressure, with many biding their time as they “were spoiled for choice”. Ms Bitti declined to give the reserve price. The property last sold for $235,000 in 1994.