The result was more than double the $1.54 million that records show the property last traded for in 2015, though it has been extensively renovated and extended since. It was also well above Marrickville’s median house price, which fell 9.5 per cent over the year to March, to $1,764,000, on Domain data.
Auctioneer Thomas McGlynn took offers from three bidders.Credit: Peter Rae
Seller Aisha Parsons said she’d loved transforming the family home over the years, and hoped to find another renovation project in the area for her next property.
“What I liked about this was that it had good bones,” she said, noting the initial steps had been removing bars from the windows, replacing broken leadlights and pulling up tiles to reveal the floorboards beneath, before tackling a full renovation in 2016.
“I love [renovating] … I’m more about that than just living in a home and maintaining it,” she said.
Selling agent Rhonda Yim, of BresicWhitney Inner West, said it was a strong result that went above expectations, and reflected the demand being seen for good homes amid limited supply. Other properties though, were proving more of a challenge to sell.
“It would be a challenging market for buyers [to gauge],” she said. “We’re seeing properties that were withdrawn [from auction] today … because of a lack of interest, but then quality homes that have mass appeal, they are going well above expectations.”
The auction was one of 617 scheduled in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 79.3 per cent from 421 reported results, while 54 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Newtown, a dilapidated two-bedroom terrace at 26 Fulham Street sold for $1.44 million.
Selling agent Peter Mitrovich, of Wiseberry Enmore, almost ran out of bidder paddles, as 21 buyers registered for the auction of the deceased estate – which had holes in the ceiling and floor, and paint peeling from the walls.
Bidding for the 107.5-square-metre block opened at $950,000 – bang on the reserve – and eight of the buyers made offers before the fall of the hammer, Mitrovich said.
The terrace sold to an investor, who outbid a mix of first home buyers, tradespeople and experienced renovators. The buyer plans to renovate the home and then rent it out.
“The result was really surprising … we thought we might see $1.1 million or $1.2 million,” Mitrovich said. “It’s a testament to the marketplace at the moment, there’s just nothing around and if you want something you’ve got to be prepared to compete for it.”
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The home had been advertised without a price guide, Mitrovich said, but buyer feedback had been around the $1 million mark and the latest valuation put the block’s land value at $1.03 million.
The result was about $200,000 shy of Newtown’s median house price of $1,647,500.
In Maroubra, a five-bedroom house with a granny flat and a pool at 24 Haig Street sold for $4.68 million.
The auction kicked off at $4.2 million, and bidding climbed in $100,000 and $50,000 increments to start, before dropping to smaller increases.
Bidding from five of the seven registered buyers – from the eastern suburbs and inner west – pushed the price past the $4.2 million to $4.4 million price guide, and the $4.5 million reserve.
The 550-square-metre block sold through Ray White Eastern Beaches’ Nader Hotait, to a local family upsizing from a semi.
The sellers had bought the block for $2.01 million in 2015, records show, and knocked down an existing three-bedroom house to rebuild the current home.
In Eastwood, a four-bedroom knockdown on a 1073-square-metre block sold for $3.09 million.
Bidding on 25 Wentworth Road began at $2.1 million, and climbed in $100,000 and $50,000 jumps. Only about half a dozen of the 21 registered bidders were able to get a word in before the deceased estate was sold.
The property traded through McGrath Epping’s Betty Ockerlander. She declined to disclose the reserve, but said the result was well above expectations.
The property had no advertised price guide and the auction was brought forward by one week due to strong demand.