Auction market turns up the heat as temperatures fall

Across the country, Australians have been pulling out the winter coats as temperatures fell and rain doused parts of the nation, but the one place you could guarantee there to be heat was in the vicinity of a Ray White auctioneer and their gavel - as today proved once again.

Innovative internal data from Australasia's leading property group showed that, despite the Queen's Birthday regional holiday falling a week later than last year this coming Monday, scheduled auction numbers this week were up 66.8 per cent year-on-year.

These numbers translated into some outstanding outcomes as the Ray White Group booked a preliminary auction day clearance rate of 86.7 per cent, with Sydney coming in at 90 per cent, Melbourne at 94.1 per cent, and Brisbane at 84.6 per cent.

Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said it was another exciting week for the property market across Sydney.

“We continue to see high clearance rates and strong bidder activity - even on a long weekend where you would expect it to be a touch quieter - we saw fierce bidding and strong competition across all our auctions,” Mr Pattaro said.

“Sellers are still obtaining record-breaking and incredible prices. Whether you are a buyer or a seller, we see the current market as a fantastic opportunity for both sides to transact.”

There is no doubt the jewel in the crown for the day belonged to Ray White Maroubra I South Coogee Sales Agent Nader Hotait as he managed the $7 million sale of 10 Wilson Street (above) in Maroubra - hundreds of thousands over the reserve price.

“As you can imagine, our seller is very happy with this outcome, all of the feedback throughout the campaign was pointing towards a $6 million sale price,” Mr Hotait said.

“We had a massive 120 groups through during the campaign and that resulted in four registered bidders on the day - there was an incredible amount of interest, even at such a high price point.

“I broke the Maroubra record in Mermaid Avenue back in February and that has really put the suburb on the map. It’s near a beautiful beach and has great local schools so it ticks many boxes. Indeed, the buyer was a local who wanted to be nearer to the ocean.”

It was then a case of double delight for Ray White Surry Hills Principal Shaun Stoker as he went on to manage two outstanding outcomes for his two sellers.

The highlight came in Erskineville as he, along with Sales Executive Moira Verheijen, managed the $2.45 million sale of 149 Rochford Street (above) - a massive $350,000 over reserve.

“This is an outstanding result for our sellers and this is just another example of the market still being red-hot for good properties in good locations,” Mr Stoker said.

“The campaign ended up attracting 13 registered bidders, six of whom actively competed, and that drove the sale price all the way up from the opening bid of $2 million to the final sale price of $2.45 million - our sellers are of course delighted.

“The buyers were a couple of local guys and they loved the layout and the size of the block.”

Mr Stoker was then at it again, this time with fellow Principal Ercan Ersan, as they successfully sold Newtown’s 61 Wells Street (above) for $1.582 million - $82,000 over the reserve price.

“This property was absolutely perfect for first-home buyers and that rang true as this was the demographic we welcomed most within the 113 groups we had through opens,” Mr Stoker said.

“Throughout the campaign, we were receiving feedback of between $1.3 and $1.4 million but the six registered bidders - three of whom were active - drove a great outcome for our seller.

“The suburb of Newtown just keeps going from strength to strength with good properties that are presented well - like this one was - basically guaranteed to do well with the right campaign.

“There seems to be a lot of buyers in that two-bedroom terrace bracket at the moment and the eventual winning bidder was a first home buyer who will keep this one as an investment.”

“This was a fantastic result for us and we were really impressed with Shaun and the wider team throughout the whole campaign,” said seller Jori Scobie (above right).

“They were very transparent throughout regarding price expectations, what it was worth, and Shaun’s market knowledge was very impressive - he was confident of a good outcome.

“We had no hesitation of selling during a pandemic and we were recommended auction as this was the best way to create competition.”

With the real estate market again open for business, Ray White VIC/TAS CEO Stephen Dullens commented that agents wasted little time to get the market moving again.

“It is so pleasing to once again assist our customers across Melbourne, in a safe environment,” Mr Dullens said.

“We’ve seen significant interest from customers keen to inspect property for both sales and rentals.”

Ray White VIC/TAS Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon (above) said there was no doubt that all eyes were on The Garden State to see how it would perform post-lockdown.

“This week saw significantly less auction volume, but the shortage of supply created more demand per property with an average increase in both registered and active bidders,” Mr Condon said.

“We saw a mixture of both on-site and online auctions with market conditions continuing to be conducive towards sellers achieving a premium price.”

The pent-up buyer demand in Melbourne post-lockdown was clear to see and this was evident as Ray White Mount Waverley Managing Director Courtney Matthews sold 76 Jubilee Street (above) in Mount Waverley for $1.675 million - $195,000 over the reserve price.

“This was an exceptional result - I have to say it was completely unexpected. A different agency sold an identical property a week ago during lockdown, literally a street away, for $1.4 million - it’s needless to say our seller is delighted with this outcome,” Mr Matthews said.

“Our strategy was to hold on until this side of lockdown to get that real auction atmosphere on the street and it really paid off for our sellers as we were able to achieve an extra $275,000.

“The market keeps on surprising us. Going into lockdown stopped some of the supply of property coming online so that exacerbated a situation where there are already more buyers than homes.”

There was another outstanding outcome over in Craigieburn as Ray White Craigieburn Sales Consultant and Auctioneer Daniel Diamantopolous (above) and Sales Assistant Phil Betteley sold 15 Calibre Avenue (below) for $738,000 - $88,000 over the reserve price.

“It was a really interesting campaign because we had 20 groups through the first open home - then with the restrictions, everything just hit a roadblock,” Mr Diamantopolous said.

“We had to run half of a campaign virtually and that involved some solid camera work from our sellers and Zoom meetings for people interested in the property - but it felt positive.

“We ended up having 12 people registering to bid on the day and the winning bidders were a local older couple who were looking to move into something a bit more modern.

“Interestingly, I actually sold this property to the sellers a few years back, and I’m pleased to say the outcome has ensured they received a healthy return on their original purchase.”

“The campaign started off awesome with really good numbers through the open homes but then lockdown hit and to be honest, we freaked out a little bit, mainly because of the unknown that it left us with,” said sellers Adam Lammana and partner Olivia.

“Both Daniel and Phil were absolutely fantastic because they filled us with confidence of how we could move forward, with the likes of virtual inspections, to keep that interaction going.

“We put our faith in Daniel and Phil in how they believed we should finish the campaign - and that ended up with us carrying out a live narrated walkthrough on Zoom, which was great as we could answer questions live, and we got a real feel for people’s interest.

“Because we’re also in the market to buy, we hadn’t seen any other real estate agency be this innovative so we felt like this made us stand out - it’s all that hard work in the background that contributed to the result today.”

The Melbourne hat-trick was completed when Ray White Cheltenham Director/Auctioneer Kevin Chokshi and Sales Consultant Nakita Tate sold 1/2 Coleman Court (above) in Cheltenham for $1.391 million - a whopping $141,000 over the reserve price.

“The property was originally scheduled to go to auction last Saturday but we actually decided to strategically delay it for a week until after the lockdown was lifted,” Mr Chokshi said.

“After talking to our sellers, we agreed that an on-street auction would achieve the best outcome because of the atmosphere, emotion, and competition that scenario creates.

“The eventual buyer actually only saw it for the first time today. They literally turned up half an hour before the auction to inspect and they managed to beat strong competition from the other nine registered bidders to take the keys.”

Double delights seemed to be the order of the day and the same was true for Ray White Ascot as they achieved two outstanding results for their sellers at their in-room auctions today.

First up was Sales and Marketing Consultant Vanessa Harte as she successfully managed the $2.5 million sale of 7 Apex Street (above) in Clayfield.

“This sale is a perfect example of why auctions work so well. The highest offer prior was made before auction by the eventual underbidder, and this was well below the final sale price, with that person ending up extending themselves by more than $200,000 on auction day,” Ms Harte said.

“Of the 29 groups that came through during the campaign, it was mostly families looking, with all four of my bidders being families from the local area - not interstate.

“The property really was in the best spot in all of Clayfield. You are spoiled with views of both the city and Bayside, being on top of a hill, along with the peace of being in a cul-de-sac.”

It was then the turn of fellow Sales and Marketing Consultant Alexander Shean, along with Principal Dwight Ferguson, as they sold Ascot’s 23 Butler Street (above) for $1.51 million.

“We had really strong interest in this property throughout the campaign and that culminated in a whopping 16 buyers registering to bid on auction day - with 10 participating,” Mr Shean said.

“The bidding was really strong, too, with the opening bid of $1million storming up to $1.4 in no time, before slowing down into smaller $25,000 increments, then eventually selling above reserve.

“To give you an idea of the interest, we had someone fly up from Sydney this morning to bid after carrying out a FaceTime inspection but unfortunately for them, they missed out.

“We decided to have these auctions in-room on our terrace to generate a good atmosphere and it did just that - the winning bidders were from the local area.”

Then, over in Kenmore Hills, arguably one of the best views in all of Brisbane was snapped up as Ray White MetoWest Sales Agent Jo Langstaff and Director/Principal Craig Sharp sold 65 Bielby Road (above) for $1.7 million.

“There was a serious amount of local interest in this one with the vast majority of the 100 groups that came through being from within close proximity to the property,” Ms Langstaff said.

“It’s one of those homes that people keep an eye on because as soon as it comes to the market they want to pounce right away - only five homes in Brisbane have views like these.

“It’s a landmark location for locals because of the views and great schools and amenities - but it was a family from Melbourne who had moved here in the last year that purchased it.

“The market is still fantastic. I hear people saying the edge has come off - but not for me. I still see the same intensity, drive, and competition - and I expect that to continue for the rest of the year.”

Ray White SA Chief Auctioneer John Morris (above) said the temperatures might be cooling down across the state, but the auction action continued to heat up across the board.

“We have experienced incredible auction numbers yet again with massive gavel market share and Ray White flags flying state-wide,” Mr Morris said.

“We once again have a really high preliminary auction day clearance rate with registered bidder numbers also sitting at around nine per auction on average.

“I have to shout out to Nick Roma and Stefan Siciliano of Ray White Norwood as their property at 1 Wootten Street in Greenacres attracted a whopping 41 registered bidders - that’s certainly the highest number I’ve heard of in a long, long time.”

Arguably the stand-out of the day came in West Beach as Ray White Henley Beach Sales Agent Samuel Parsons and Principal Anthony Fahey sold 12 Graydale Street (above) for $1.811 million - hundreds of thousands over the reserve price.

“This property was all about the location. Being this close to the beach is so highly sought-after and is just so secluded, while being close to golf courses and parklands,” Mr Fahey said.

“The home attracted a real blend of buyers ranging from builders wanting to knock down and build their dream home, knock down and turn into duplexes, or try to renovate.

“In the end, the winning bidder out of the 15 who registered was a family who planned on knocking it down to build their dream home within a stone’s throw of the beach.”