Paddington family’s mostly vacant guest house sells for $3m at auction

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A three-bedroom terrace that was kept by a nearby Paddington family – originally from France – for their guests to stay in when visiting Sydney sold for $3,075,000 at auction on Saturday.

Guided at $2.6 million, the home at 4 Queen Road was part of a deceased estate and was offered to market for the first time in 40 years. In this time, the terrace was not leased out or lived in but kept vacant for guests visiting the owners who lived around the corner.

The property sold for $375,000 above its $2.7 million reserve. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Eight registered, and seven actively bid for the charming and livable residence without parking. Interest came from young families upsizing from apartments, along with a few downsizers and older parents looking to purchase for their adult children.

Bidding opened at $2.4 million and spiralled in $50,000 increments. When it reached $2.75 million, it was announced as on the market. Bids in $25,000 increments were met out between two young families until $10,000 and $1000 lots took the price to $3.075 million, where it sold under the hammer.

Selling agent Christie Mortimer from DiJones Eastern Suburbs said the $2.6 million guide was “pretty entry level for a terrace in Paddington”.

“Buyers were hoping to get into an entry level terrace … and then renovate and hold for a while,” she said.

Mortimer said the owners purchased the property 40 years ago for $42,000.

The buyers saw the terrace for the first time last week, and are renting around the corner. Originally from Ireland, this is their first Australian property.

The property was one of 749 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week including the long weekend. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 73.8 per cent from 492 reported results, while 85 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Epping, a two-storey family home with two entrances, seven bedrooms and six bathrooms sold for $3.62 million. The red brick residence at 36 Kandy Avenue was on a 1069-square-metre block and had a variety of fruit trees.

Seven parties registered and five actively bid at the auction. Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said it opened at $2.7 million.

Pattaro said there was “some really good, strong bidding activity.” “We went from $3,000,360 to $3.5 [million] in one bid,” he said.

“We went from $2.7 [million] to $3.6 [million] in $910,000 worth of bids.”

Selling agent Tian Hong from Ray White Epping said the reserve was lowered on the day from $3.4 million to $3.3 million.

Hong said there was no guide; she advised buyers to do their own research for a land size of 1000 square metres in the suburb.

The buyer was an upsizing family from the inner west. The vendors are a retiring couple.

In St Ives, a two-bedroom apartment was snapped up by a 25-year-old first-home buyer. Guided at $795,000, the unit at 109/212-216 Mona Vale Road sold for $20,000 above its $830,000 reserve for $850,000.

Bidding opened bang on the $795,000 guide and was fiercely contested between two registered bidders. Bids in varying increments of $5000 and below took the price to $841,500. The eventual buyer then rounded up to the next $10,000, bidding $9500, so the knockout bid secured the keys for $850,000.

Selling agent Matthew Lorimer from Lorimer Estate Agents said people were drawn to the “location, very close to the shops, the rear of the block [was] very quiet.”

Lorimer said St Ives is starved for stock. “We’re very short of stock… so prices are holding up well.”

The buyer is from Davidson and may use it as an investment initially. The vendor purchased off the plan in 2015 and lived there for eight years.

Chief economist at AMP, Dr Shane Oliver, said Domain’s clearance rate of 73.8 per cent “remains pretty strong”.

“The long weekends can always distort things a little bit, but the basic picture remains that the property market remains pretty solid.”

Oliver said any dampening impact from the RBA decision to hold interest rates has been offset by the expansion of the first home deposit scheme.

“I think we will see a fairly solid spring. It’s quite conceivable first home buyer demand could double or triple normal levels as first home buyers rush to get into the market.”