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Locals with a smart bidding strategy won an ultra-luxurious Bondi Beach semi at auction on Saturday, paying $9.4 million.
The four-bedroom brand-new home at 13 Jaques Avenue was a block back from the beach and meticulously crafted, with high ceilings, skylights and a striking cacti garden.
The price guide was $8 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Six parties registered, and three were active. Bidding opened at $8.4 million and rose in $50,000 and $100,000 lots before dropping to $25,000 increments when a knockout rise of $75,000 secured the deal.
The buyer had waited until the property was announced as on the market, at its reserve of $9.1 million, before competing for the semi that went on to sell for $9.4 million.
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McGrath’s James Ledgerwood said, “It’s been the biggest campaign in Bondi Beach in the last couple of years.
“You can’t get much closer [to the beach] unless you’re on Campbell Parade. The beachside luxury market is very strong in summer, through Christmas and the New Year.
“And it’s really the scarcity of high-quality properties like this that drive these sorts of results ... It was one of a kind.”
Both the buyer and the vendors are local to Bondi. Ledgerwood said the buyers were rightsizing.
The address last traded for $3.71 million in 2021.
The property was one of 1302 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 59.4 per cent from 881 reported results, while 267 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Rodd Point, an elegant three-bedroom house at 42 Arthur Street sold for $3.6 million.
Six parties registered and two actively fought for the sleek, freshly renovated property near the Bay Run.
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Bidding opened at $2.8 million, with $50,000 bids until $3.3 million – above the $3.25 million reserve. After that, $25,000 and $10,000 bids followed until the property was sold to a local family.
Selling agent George Bechara, of Ivory Estate Agents, said buyers were drawn to “the fact that it was ready to move in and being single level”.
“It seems like this is a new normal now for the entry point of Rodd Point for a renovated … home,” he said.
Bechara said the initial guide was $2.9 million. “Then I upped the guide, just keeping it broad in the low threes because I wasn’t sure because there was so much interest.
“Rodd Point only has 600 houses or so. It’s a very niche suburb, you know, considering that the new Five Dock light rail is happening, and … you also have the Bay Run … so that’s what’s been popular about it.”
The vendor is moving to nearby Canada Bay. The house last traded for $1.9 million in 2018, records show.
In East Lindfield, a three-bedroom, red-brick home that had been in the same family for more than 60 years was fiercely contested by buyers willing to play the long game.
The hour-long auction for 39 Crana Avenue played out in the heat of the day between six registered bidders.
A mix of developers, homeowners and investors participated, with bidding starting below its $2.3 million guide at $2.2 million.
Bids rose in $10,000 increments initially, but quickly fell to $5000 rises, and then to additional offers of $1000 to $3000. It sold at long last after an hour and 15 minutes for $60,000 over the $2.5 million reserve, at $2.56 million.
Ray White’s Jessica Cao said, “It was so slow.”
“It’s a very good buy in the area,” she added. “’Cause that’s probably the cheapest house sold in East Lindfield this year, and it’s very rentable. It’s just a nice kind of land banking investment. And do something later.”
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The buyer will rent it out.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Domain’s clearance rate of 59.4 per cent could easily be revised down to 58, “which is getting back towards quite a soft level”.
“The outlook through next year is not looking as positive as it was a few months ago. Back in August, we thought there might be two or three more cuts. Now it looks like they’ll be on hold.
“There’s simply not enough homes for the number of people in Australia for the people who want to get a home.
“So those positives are still there, but interest rates also have a big impact, and the story has gone from two or three more cuts, to maybe one or more hikes, and that’s quite a big turnaround, and that’s playing on buyer confidence.”
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