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A young family paid $2.9 million for a renovated house in Greenwich after the auction on Sunday, securing a good deal when the vendors reduced their reserve to sell.
The stylish four-bedroom home at 6 Crowther Avenue features a newly renovated kitchen set between the indoor and outdoor dining areas in a smart open-plan layout.
The property was one of 564 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 49 per cent from 325 reported results throughout the week, while 114 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The result is well down on 69 per cent this time last year as three rate rises, the US-Iran war and the federal budget’s investor tax changes have dented buyer confidence. It is also below the results of recent weeks, which held above 50 per cent, albeit above the 47 per cent mark it hit in late June. Preliminary figures are often revised a few percentage points lower as more results are collected.
Three parties, all young families, registered to bid on the Greenwich home and all made offers, beginning at $2.7 million.
The price passed the $2.8 million guide, but proceedings came to a halt at $2.9 million, and with no further offers, the home passed in.
The reserve had been $2.95 million but the sellers, who are moving out of the area, adjusted their reserve to meet the market and the home sold for $2.9 million.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Richard Matthews Real Estate selling agent Jesse Di Loreto said the buyers are a young expectant family. “They were over the moon,” he said.
He said the property had been popular, with 300-plus inspections, and was an opportunity for buyers to get into the Greenwich market. “There is not a lot that comes up, it is a very small pocket,” he said.
Di Loreto also handled a Castle Hill auction on Sunday, when a young family moving into the area paid $2.71 million for a family home on a spacious block with a swimming pool.
The renovated five-bedroom house at 26 Brushford Avenue, set on about 993 square metres, had a price guide of $2.5 million.
Six parties registered and from a starting bid of $2.4 million three parties made offers, two of whom went back to back towards the end.
Early bold bids of $50,000 narrowed to about $10,000 to $15,000 later. The reserve was $2.68 million.
Di Loreto said much of the interest had been from families, many moving from the inner west for the schools or more space. The vendors were downsizing.
“It is a good quality home,” Di Loreto said, adding that it “ticks all the boxes” and that larger homes don’t come up for sale too often.
“We have had a few of these bigger style homes come up in the last few months and all of them have been strong.”
He said many homes for sale in the Castle Hill area and surrounds are still attracting 80 to 100 groups through open for inspections and receiving offers.
In Rushcutters Bay, a north-facing apartment sold for its reserve price of $3.25 million in a brief auction.
The three-bedroom residence at 201/1A Clement Place, set in the Marina One complex, features four balconies, two car spaces and access to an infinity pool. It was listed with a price guide of $3.1 million.
Two parties registered, but only one made an offer. BresicWhitney East selling agent Jeremy Brink said the price was negotiated, and the successful party made an offer of $3.25 million, at which point the property sold.
The winners are a local couple planning to live in the apartment.
Brink described the market broadly as “challenging”.
“But when there is a property that ticks all the boxes, in terms of aspect and space and parking and location, it is still going very well,” he said.
In Acacia Gardens, a home that passed in six weeks ago went to auction again on Sunday and sold for its reserve price of $1,255,000.
The four-bedroom home at 14 Snowgum Street drew five registered bidders, of whom two made offers, kicking off at the price guide of $1.2 million and pushing higher mostly in $10,000 rises.
A local family downsizing from a neighbouring suburb won the keys to the deceased estate.
Ray White (United Group) selling agent Shiv Nair said it was the second auction for the home, which had passed in six weeks ago at $1.21 million.
“The months of April and May were the worst months in the market for buyer confidence – buyers were very unsure, very uncertain,” Nair said.
“[Now] the market is more stabilised. Yes, the prices have changed, but it is more of a stable market because the sellers know where the market is, and the buyers know where the market is.”
He said more homes are now clearing at auction, and supply levels are lower at this time of year because of winter.
Unmotivated sellers who do not need to sell have withdrawn their properties from sale too. But many parties in the market now are upsizing, he said.
“They may be selling for $100,000 less than what they were hoping for, but they are buying for $200,000, $300,000 less,” he said.
