Auction wrap from around the grounds

AUCTION crowd attendance numbers swelled on the weekend across Australia, underpinning a strong preliminary clearance rate for the Ray White Group at 70 per cent nationally.

The average crowd numbers hovered around 40 people at each of Ray White’s 158 auctions today, with the average registered bidders hitting four people per auction which resulted in competitive bidding across the leading auction-focused network.

Sydney was the standout market today with the Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro saying the lack of stock remained the biggest issue in today’s market.

“Our stock is selling under the hammer or just prior. Our vendors who have committed to a mid-winter auction campaign have been richly rewarded as there’s plenty of buyers looking to transact."

He reported another busy day across the state with preliminary numbers suggesting a clearance rate of 76 per cent with results still coming into Ray White's data warehouse.

"Stock levels continue to be the common topic for discussion with 68 properties going under the hammer for Ray White NSW this week. Auction attendance continues to blossom reaching a NSW high of 45 attendees per auction which is higher than our national average at 40," Mr Pattaro said.

[playlist ids="43545"]

First home buyers were pipped at the post by a downsizer looking for the inner city buzz in Enmore.

The winning bid for 13/2-6 Liberty St (pictured above) was $610,000, reaching well above its reserve.

Ray White Surry Hills director Ercan Ersan said a crowd of 30 people piled into one bedder with 12 of those registered bidders.

One of the drawcards was a large balcony, but also attractive was the chance to do a bit of a renovation, excluding the bathroom which was already well done. In the end it was a battle between six bidders that kept the crowd enthralled.

“I thought it would go to one of the first home buyers,” Mr Ersan said. “However a lady who sold her house last year, and was looking to downsize, got in that last bid."

The highest number of registered bidders across the group was again achieved by Blaz Dejanovic of Ray White Wetherill Park with 19 registered bidders for 9 Malory Place, Wetherill Park which sold for $737,000. "It a quiet cul de sac street and the new buyer actually lives in the street too. There's not a lot of stock around at the moment and you get the sense people may still be holding off for Spring," he said.

Slow and steady wins the race – and that’s how it went for bidders at 38 Glover Street, Willoughby (pictured above) with the hammer falling at $2.82 million. This sale looks to be the top auction sale of the week for the Ray White Group.

“There were five active bidders the whole way through,” Ray White Willoughby Director Rawa Norman said, who had been quoting a guide of $2.7 million during the campaign.

She did however have a good idea who the buyer would eventually be, as she had seen her just the day before.

“She made an offer of just $2.5 million and then said she would not be attending the auction. But of course, she did. She had been to the property four times – once with her feng shui master.”

Ms Norman believed the market was ready for more stock to come on. “If I had five more like that I could sell them all tomorrow,” she said.

In Adelaide, Ray White Norwood sales executive Ryan Stapleton left his 10.30am auction at 6 Miller Crescent Parafield Gardens (pictured above with vendor on the left David Miles and agent Ryan Stapleton) elated.

“It was unbelievable,” said the agent. “We normally get twos and threes bidding in our area but we had 18 registered and eight active bidders.”

All this for a relatively modest 1960s, three bedroom brick and tile home, with a reserve of $208,900. After an exciting contest the hammer dropped at $273,102 – to be precise.

An unusual number but it reflected on the nature the auction, which was a dawn out fight to the finish.

The opening bid was $150,000 and though early bids were in the thousands, the closing stages became a nail biter – however it was a nail biting finish with the auctioneer Brenton Ilicic finally taking $1 bids as potential buyers scraped the bottom of their barrels in an effort to secure the home.

The property pictured above in Box Hill North, Melbourne had already experienced tremendous interest with over 70 groups having inspected the time capsule home. However the numbers for the auction at 14 Woodhouse Grove, were even higher.

“We had 120 people in the crowd,” said the principal of Ray White Forest Hill, Hugh Francis.

Besides being in great shape, the house backs onto park so the attraction of the property extended beyond the fence, and even though the house was outdated, the home was in great condition.

After an exhaustive and well fought out battled between six bidders the property sold at $1.09 million, a whopping $150,000 above reserve.

“The first bid was for $800,000 and the bidding continued well until about the $1,020,000 market when it got down to $1000s and $2000 bids. The crowd felt for the bidders as they slogged it out. A few groans could be heard around about then,” Mr Francis added.

According to Ray White Victoria's Chief Auctioneer Matthew Condon, the poor weather had little effect on the weekend's results.

"Buyers confidence in the Victorian real estate market continues to remain strong. Based on Ray White's preliminary data this week has seen an increase in the number of active bidders per auction. It’s also great to see that given the last couple of weeks high clearance rate buyers are doing everything they possibly can do to get their finance organised and be in the position to bid come auction day,” Mr Condon said.

[playlist ids="43547"]

Victorian auctioneer agent Chris Watson of Ray White Ringwood was amazed (and happy) that he got such a good crowd at his 21 Jeffrey Drive, Ringwood (pictured above) auction.

“It’s five degrees, raining and grey," Mr Watson said after the auction.But inside the lounge room of the single level mid century the auction was hot and after the opening bid of $500,000 it wasn’t long before the hammer fell at $714,000.

“We had three bidders up to the reserve price of $670,000 and then we were on the market and two more joined in at that stage. So, we had five bidders right up to the end – sometimes bids were as low as $500, but towards the end they went back to $1,000 bids," Mr Watson said.

The new owners are a young couple, looking forward to moving back to the city from their coastal property.

With a guide of between $1.55 million to $1.65 million, the vendors of 11 Sycamore Street in Malvern East (pictured above) must be going out for a good dinner on Saturday night.

Ray White Carnegie agent and auctioneer Tom Grieve reports the house sold under the hammer for $1.925 million.

In front of a crowd of 120 people, five bidders were actively bidding on the property after the cat was let out of the bag that the vendors are relocating and were serious about a sale – plus it didn’t hurt that the home is in a street already populated with some very lovely houses.

To the warmer parts of the country and Mitch Peereboom, Ray White Queensland's Chief Auctioneer had another busy auction day.

"Buyers are active in the market and not afraid to compete," he said.

A former local gentleman bought back into the suburb of Bardon at auction on Saturday, much to the delight of the successful bidder’s mates who were also in attendance. The final bid of $1,060,000 was quickly celebrated.

“I heard them cry out ‘the Bardon Boys are united again," said Ray White Toowong sales consultant Andrew Van Bennekom.

The home at 54 Gordon Road, Bardon (pictured above) was very popular pre-auction, with Mr Van Bennekom receiving multiple offers before the Saturday auction.

“But at auction those offers were forgotten and the bidders went well above what they offered prior,” Mr Van Bennekom said. “We got a lot more out of it at auction, the system worked well.”

The new owner had been an unsuccessful under bidder at previous auctions, but was determined to come out a winner on Gordon Street. He intends to update the property for his own use.

The home has been in the one family for many years, and the owners, now in their 70s had decided that the very large 1500sqm block of land was becoming an issue.

The top auction sale of the week was on the Gold Coast on Sunday when Edin Kara of Ray White Sovereign Island sold 20 King James Court for $2.850 million to a local buyer. There were three registered bidders at the on-site auction and Nigel Long worked his magic on the gavel.