Young families making bold moves at Sydney auctions

A young family never gave up, looking fellow bidders in the eyes and firing straight back at an intense North Shore auction on Saturday.

There were 24 bidders registered for 34 Ellalong Rd North Turramurra, with the home selling $620,000 over its reserve.

The young family, who have been renting a small apartment close by and house hunting for over a year, emerged as the buyers with the hammer dropping at $2.82m.

They were one of many young families to successfully secure a home across Sydney this weekend as auction clearance rates continue to grow.

Agent Dominic Smith, from Marshall.Chan.Yahl, said the couple used the best method to secure the property.

“As soon as a bid came in, they bid straight away,” he said.

“It came down to the wire, it’s good to see the aggression coming back to the market.”

Auctioneer Chris Scerri, from Scerri Auctions, described the auction as “outstanding” despite a slow, hesitant start.

“It was an incredible result, we had a $200,000 bid and $100,000 bid which often knocks other bidders out but it didn’t this time,” he said.

“We also had a new bidder at the $2.75m mark.

“The young family really wanted it, looking at the competition and bidding straight after. They weren’t giving up on this one.”

It comes as another determined young family pulled out all stops to secure 11 Glover St, North Willoughby.

The home sold for $4.83m, smashing the reserve by $530,000.

Ray White agent John McManus said the sellers couldn’t believe their luck watching the bidding war that drove their sale more than half a million dollars over the reserve.

“Auctions drive competition and the bidding just kept climbing from all involved parties,” he said.

He said the buyers mentioned before the auction that they “would get this one”.

Meanwhile in Thornleigh, two young families went head to head at the auction of 53 Beresford Rd, with the couple currently renting securing the property.

The home went under the hammer for $1.975m, selling $175,000 over its reserve with five active bidders.

Lead agent Dion Verzeletti, from Ray White, said the auction came down to two young families battling it out.

Mr Verzeletti said the home had been in the same family for more than 60 years, passed down from generation to generation.

“The owners had previously bought it off their parents and raised their children here, and now it’s being passed onto the next family to raise theirs,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful neighbourhood, surrounded by higher valued suburbs. However, it was an unexpected result today, selling for $200,000 over the highest offer prior to auction which just goes to show the value of the area.”

A young Hills District family, who had been on the hunt for just a few weeks, secured a Roseville Chase property with just one bid.

The home at 41 Babbage Rd, which had nine registered bidders, sold for $2.31m which was $160,000 over the reserve.

“The young family only started looking for a new home a few weeks ago, but knew what they wanted and secured their home with one single bid,” Ray White agent Jessica Cao said.

“There are a lot of young families looking to buy in the North Shore market, as it’s a great environment to raise your kids with the beach, city and great schools close by.”

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It comes as the lure of a granny flat saw a competitive auction in Padstow.

The home at 26 Rivenoak Ave sold for $1.53m, $250,000 over its reserve after 61 bids.

Ave Auctions director Andrew Cooley said the drawcard of the granny flat brought in owner-occupiers as well as investors.

“It hit the whole buyer pool,” he said.

“The buyer is going to occupy the home and in time lease out the granny flat.”

He said the result was high for Padstow, with a lot of people buying blocks to build granny flats.

There were celebrations from more than 15,000km away for a couple who sold their Balmain terrace for $150,000 over its reserve.

Selling agent from BresicWhitney, Andrew Liddell, said the owners of 23 Church St were on the phone from Copenhagen during the auction.

“They were thrilled, they got up at 1am their time for it,” he said.

He said the auction was competitive, with four active bidders, and the terrace eventually sold for $2.15m to a young couple buying their first home.

Auctioneers were working hard early on, the day kicking off with a three bedroom home in southern Sydney, 8 Gnarbo Ave Carss Park, passing in at $2.26m.

It took 56 bids to get to that point with auctioneer Michael Garofolo describing it as an “epic battle” for home ownership.

Over at Middle Dural, an estate on five acres at 30 Cranstons Rd was also passed in after a vendor bid of $3.6m following a short auction with 11 bids.

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There were 625 auctions held across Sydney this week, which is double the number of auctions compared to this time last year.

Auctions are on the rise with 672 auctions scheduled next week.

“The number of homes going to auction has picked up in recent weeks, despite the quieter winter period approaching,” PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said

“Supporting the uptick in scheduled auctions has been improved selling conditions which have resulted in four consecutive months of price growth, improved clearance rates and a boost in vendor confidence.”