Sydney’s spring selling season – usually the busiest time of the year in the property market – kicked off this weekend with “patchy” results.
Sellers of large blocks in some of Sydney’s rapidly growing population centres pulled in huge prices at auctions, but agents reported it was a “buyer’s market” in much of the rest of the city.
Part of what’s helped moderate the market is a recent increase in listings, with SQM Research reporting the biggest August rise in new listings since records began in 2009.
Among the standout sales was a 930 sqm block in Ermington that sold under the hammer for $2.92m. Comparable properties in the area had sold for about $2.5m a few weeks ago.
Thirteen bidders registered for the Ermington auction. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Thirteen buyer parties registered to bid for the property on Stamford Ave, most of who were reported to be developers interested in building duplexes on the site.
The buyer was understood to be a builder with no immediate plans to develop the site. The price was only $1000 above the next highest bid.
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Selling agent Paul Tassone of Melrose Estate Agents said a new duplex on the site would probably be worth upwards of $3m.
“Ermington has been very strong in recent months and it’s outperforming a lot of the other nearby areas like Eastwood,” he said.
Auctioneer Francesco Princi of Cooley received an opening bid of $2.2m and there were still four buyers making offers once the bidding hit $2.9m. “It’s pretty unusual to get a block that size. The property sold well because of the opportunity it provided,” Mr Princi said.
Auctioneer Francesco Princi said the larger block in Ermington helped draw more interest. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Further to the north, a family of first-home buyers beat out strong competition from five other registered bidders to claim the keys for a three-bedroom house in Epping, paying $2.2m.
The price for the two-level Rockleigh Way house was $250,000 over reserve. Selling agent Catherine Murphy of The Agency said it was an excellent result in the current, more cautious sales environment.
“It’s a very patchy market right now,” she said. “Sales like this certainly aren’t the norm.”
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29 Rockleigh Way, Epping.
And in the east, the 1885-built home of a trailblazing horse trainer sold for just over $2.15m at a hotly contested auction in Randwick.
The three-bedroom William St terrace opposite Randwick racecourse had been owned by Betty Lane Holland, one of the first female horse trainers in NSW, who died last year aged 97.
Four bidders registered for the auction with selling agent Marnie Seinor of McGrath-Coogee. The guide price had been about $2m and the opening bid was $1.85m.
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The home on William Street, Randwick.
The auction was one of nearly 800 scheduled across Sydney this weekend – a similar volume to last week when about 65 per cent of the scheduled auctions produced a sale.
It’s worth noting that about half those properties sold pre-auction and earlier indications suggested a similar trend with sales this week.
Auctioneer Clarence White, the director of auction house Menck White, said buyers were becoming increasingly cautious and the auction market was losing energy within inner ring suburbs.
“About 80 per cent of the vendors we’ve encountered are ahead of the market on price. Some have very unrealistic reserves and they believe it’s a stronger market than it actually is,” Mr White said.
Auctioneer Clarence White said buyers were often hesitant in the current market.
He added that some buyers may be hedging their bets until there is clearer messaging from the Reserve Bank about when rates may drop.
“Buyers are very price cautious and they often have low commitment levels at auction. Many have an eye on the interest rate.”
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