Owner-occupier pays $1.06m for Enmore reno project, beating 13 others

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A renovation-ready apartment in the hip inner west has changed hands for $1,061,000.

The two-bedroom, top-floor pad at 6/33-37 Tupper Street in Enmore sailed $111,000 over its $950,000 reserve, in an auction that attracted 14 registered bidders.

Guidance was $900,000 to $990,000. The tired property has blemished, salmon-coloured walls and florid kitchen tiles, and drew mostly owner-occupiers, including the buyer, from inner west Tempe, and the underbidder.

The 93-square-metre apartment is in a block of 15, not far from trendy King Street in Newtown. “You’re between the amenity and vibrancy of Newtown but without the noise because you’re just on the outskirts of it,” agent Michael White of Adrian William Real Estate said.

The property is also nearby Enmore Road, voted Sydney’s coolest street by Time Out magazine in 2022.

Six bidders participated, starting with an opening bid of $875,000 and grinding in increments of $5000 most of the way through.

Auctioneer Brad Heffernan sells the Enmore apartment.

“Even though it needs a lot of work, when you look across the landscape of what else is on offer, it has fundamentals that are hard to find – decent size, car parking, a good spot, private, north aspect, top floor, and the light,” White said.

It was one of 702 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday.

In Naremburn, charities were the beneficiaries of a deceased estate at 21 Mitchell Street, which sold for $2.87 million.

Thirteen parties registered and three took part. The pre-auction guide was $2.4 million to $2.64 million.

The robust contest for the two-bedroom, Federation-era cottage was over in 11 bids.

It opened at $2 million, which was immediately upped to $2.4 million by a buyer’s agent, exactly hitting the reserve. Confident bids of $100,000, $50,000 and $40,000 and $20,000 followed.

As it was a deceased estate, the windfall will be distributed to nominated charities.

The speed and optimism was no surprise to auctioneer Edward Riley. “The fierce competition reflected both the scarcity of untouched homes and the enduring appeal of one of the lower north shore’s smallest and oldest suburbs,” he said.

Agent Tony Bellia of Forsyth Real Estate said the buyer exceeded his budget to nudge out a professional couple. “He ended up paying a bit more for it because, as he said to me, he could see that his wife really liked it and it’d be a great place to live,” Bellia said.

In Daceyville, a buyer parted with $1,545,000 to score a derelict, semi-detached 1920s house, paying $45,000 above the reserve.

Bidding for 8 Endeavour Road started at $1.1 million and agent Tristan Oddi of PPD Real Estate described the showdown, between five active parties, as aggressive.

“There were a lot of very confident people,” he said. “Everyone saw the potential in it, and it goes to show just how much buyers love a fixer-upper.”

The campaign hopes were for $1.2 million for the uninhabitable house with two bedrooms on a 385-square-metre block.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Among the 12 registered bidders were first-home buyers, investors and builders. The winning bidder, from Bondi, intends to renovate and eventually resell it. The underbidder was hoping to secure the property for his daughter.

“There’s a lot of young families and affluent people moving into the area,” Oddi said. “It’s undervalued in comparison to the surrounding suburbs.”

In Lindfield East, a solid brick four-bedroom family home fetched $5.51 million, against a $4.8 million reserve and a $4.6 million guide.

“We were popping champagne after the auction, straightaway,” agent Jessica Cao of Ray White Upper North Shore said.

The 1930s house at 25 Adelaide Avenue had been owned by the same family for 40 years, and has a handsome presence on what Cao calls one of the suburb’s best streets.

Seven bidders registered and four entered the fray. The last bidder standing was a young family from the upper north shore, upgrading into a more substantial home. “I think they will do some work on it,” Cao said.

Bidding launched on the $4.6 million guide and rose in increments of $50,000, but contenders tightened the reins in the final $200,000, trading curt $10,000 bids.

The buyers were delighted to clinch the deal. “They couldn’t believe it,” Cao said. “It was in front of a huge crowd of over 100 people, and they felt a bit of pressure.”