Sydney’s inner west was at the epicentre of an explosion in bidding activity at auctions this weekend as buyer competition continued to intensify following last month’s interest rate cut.
Multiple homes sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars above expectation on Saturday – usually after registered buyers were drawn into prolonged bidding wars.
It’s a marked change from only a few months ago when inner west home seekers were struggling to get the prices they wanted, with the region recording some of the largest price declines in Sydney.
One of the top sales was for a modest three-bedroom house in Abbottsford that sold in dated condition for $5.4m – $900,000 above reserve. Ten parties registered to bid for the 690 sqm block on Poolman St, which was a few blocks from the Parramatta River but offered no water views.
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The Abbotsford house sold for $900,000 over reserve.
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It’s understood the home had sold in 1965 for about £6,000, equivalent to about $200,000 in today’s money, according to online calculators. With pounds worth two dollars at the time Australia moved to decimal currency in 1966, the $5.4m price was at least 450 times higher than the last time the home traded.
“It just went crazy … Our vendor was over the moon,” said selling agent Joe Kanaan of The Agency. “It was an emotional sale for him because it was his parents’ home … it just went so much higher than we expected.”
The buyer is reportedly planning to knock down the house and replace it with luxury duplexes.
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33 Woodside Ave, Burwood sold for just under $5m.
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A Burwood home – also in dated condition and requiring some TLC – sold for $4.98m. The reserve for the Woodside Ave home was not disclosed but the property had been listed online among properties with price expectations of $3.5m-$4m. No official guide was released.
Selling agent John Cannizzaro of Montana Real Estate said the sellers were taken off guard with the higher than expected price. “We weren’t expecting that at all,” he said.
Nearby, in Concord, a house on Riverview St, sold for $3,635,000, $235,000 over reserve. There were seven bidders.
It was an unusual home given the facade had featured in the opening credits of the show Packed to the Rafters. The auctioneer Ed Riley said competition was growing. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve definitely noticed a shift in market sentiment, with renewed confidence from buyers at auction,” Mr Riley said.
Auctioneer Brad Heffernan calls bids at the auction of 4/374-376 Livingstone Rd, Marrickville, which sold for $1.161m. Picture: Francis Sicat/ Adrian William Real Estate
“Today’s bidding was competitive, reflecting a positive change in the overall atmosphere. (It’s a strong indicator) that the market is stabilising and could continue to see upward momentum.”
First-home buyers have been feeling the heat too. A Marrickville unit on Livingstone Rd attracted 11 registered bidders and sold for just over $1.16m.
Selling agent George Milionis of Adrian William refused to share the reserve. “It was a good spectacle,” Mr Milionis said. “It was a fun auction full of energy.”
There were also some strong sales in other parts of Sydney.
A gutted two-bedroom terrace in Paddington left empty for over a decade sold at auction for $2.8m – $800,000 over reserve.
19 Union St, Paddington sold for $2.8m. Picture: Metro Realty
The price for the Paddington home was $800,000 over reserve. Picture: Metro Realty
Selling agent John Tsironis of Metro Real Estate said some of the interested parties had estimated the dilapidated terrace on Union St would require $1m in repairs. Seventeen parties registered to bid.
“We were surprised with the final outcome,” he said. “It’s a cracker result for a single storey in that kind of condition.”
Down south, a small two-bedroom villa in Caringbah became hot property when 13 parties registered to bid at the auction – most auctions before the interest rate cut attracted two to three bidders.
3/5 Wallumatta Rd, Caringbah attracted 13 bidders.
The stiff competition drove up the price for the Wallumatta Rd house, which went to auction with a $1.2m reserve but sold under the hammer for $1,330,000.
“There’s a definite improvement in the market,” said auctioneer Andrew Cooley, the director of Avenue Auctions. “People are bidding with more confidence.”
