Auction volumes across the country rebounded this week after last week's Queens birthday weekend slump.
Australasia's largest real estate group had 630 auctions scheduled this week, up 22.3 per cent on the same time last year, while the number of properties on the market is up 4.04 per cent.
There were 379 auctions scheduled to go ahead on Saturday alone, with the group recording a preliminary auction day clearance rate of 67.2 per cent nationally.
The standout city by clearance rate was Adelaide, with a preliminary clearance rate of 81 per cent.
Buyers were not deterred by the recent interest rate rises, with strong bidding activity across the country.
Average registered bidders sat at 3.7 nationally, with an auction in Sydney’s Upper North Shore reporting a whopping 19 registered bidders who arrived to bid on a two-bedroom home in Roseville Chase.
Sydney
Ray White New South Wales chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said confidence had returned to the Sydney market this week.
“Buyers are feeling a little more confident than previous weeks. Now the election is over, buyers know what to expect in the market,” Mr Pattaro said.
“Buyers are factoring in future interest rate rises but so are sellers. It’s positive for both buyers and sellers. Sellers can be confident there are buyers and buyers can be confident sellers are willing to do a deal.”
53 Babbage Road, Roseville Chase
Sold under the hammer for $2.505 million - $405,000 above reserve
Ray White Upper North Shore - Jessica Cao
19 registered bidders, five active
Auctioneer: Jason Keen
The buyers were a local family who were upsizing from an apartment.
The property was being sold (sellers pictured above) as part of a deceased estate after being in the same family for more than 50 years.
Ms Cao said the property was an original 1930s home in great condition.
“The location is very good, it's on the main road but it's convenient to the beach, the city and good schools. It's a beautiful federation home in its original condition.
“We had a gentleman at the auction who said it was his great-grandfather's house - he went through and said not much had changed. It had a lot of character and potential.
“The market has been very strong, in the Upper North Shore we always have good demand.
“It's a really nice area for families.”
20C Stonecrop Road, Turramurra (pictured above)
Sold under the hammer for $4.85 million
Ray White Upper North Shore - Matt Bolin and Jennifer Soros
One registered bidder, one active
Auctioneer: Jason Keen
The property included a four-bedroom, three-bathroom main residence and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom granny flat.
The buyers were a family who bought the property with the help of their parents who planned to live in the granny flat when they were visiting Sydney from the Hunter Valley.
The sellers were relocating to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
“The home sat on a 1635sqm level block, with no big trees, and no immediate neighbours - it felt like you were in the country,” Mr Bolin said.
“Everyone was interested because of the multigenerational living potential.
“We sold two out of two properties today. Buyers are being more cautious but there’s still interest for quality properties.”
105 Crystal St, Petersham (pictured above)
Sold under the hammer for $1.39 million
Ray White Petersham - Nicholas Arena and Blake Tucker
Seven registered bidders, four active
Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White
The buyer was a young first home buyer, while the sellers were moving out of town to enjoy a coastal change.
“It was a really nicely maintained home with nice original features. It had a lot of space and great natural light,” Mr Arena said.
“Post election I’ve started to see more buyers out and about - we had about 70 buyers throughout the campaign. I think we’re starting to see some confidence coming back with a bit more certainty around.”
Sold under the hammer for $1.840 million
Ray White Rockdale - Nicholas Economos and Amanda Akbari
Six registered bidders, four active bidders
Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White
The buyer was a local who already owned property on the same street. The seller (pictured above) was selling the home as part of a deceased estate after the property had been in the family for 60 years.
“It was a beautiful federation style property with plenty of character and charm,” Mr Economos said.
“It was on a big block with bay views, close to the train station, with a double brick granny flat.”
7/1-9 Empire Lane, Marrickville
Sold for $1.325 million
Ray White Surry Hills | Alexandria | Glebe | Erskineville - Ercan Ersan
Four registered bidders, two active
Auctioneer: James Keenan, Ray White
The buyers were a young family purchasing their first home, while the sellers were a young couple moving to the North Shore.
“It was a three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse on a really cool street. Iyt had Melbourne laneway vibes,” Mr Ersan said.
“The market has been good, everything we had today sold. If anything I’ve seen a bit of a surge in buyer activity because they’re nervous about losing their borrowing capacity, so they’re getting in while they can.”
Brisbane
Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said there was an evident change in the market.
“The change in buyer behaviour has led agents’ to develop a stronger skillset and improved buyer servicing, and the quality of vendor management.
“That quality of education to help our sellers make really good decisions is critical.
“Gone are the days when a property would sell itself, now agents’ skillsets are absolutely paramount as we start to see the shift in buyer behaviour.”
Ray White New Farm | B ulimba | Toowong | Clayfield had huge success at their auction event at the Calile Hotel today with an 80 per cent clearance rate.
Nine out of 12 properties sold under the hammer with the top result going to 76 Oxlade Street for $5.52 million.
Sold under the hammer for $5.52 million
Ray White Bulimba - Scott Darwon and William Low
Four registered bidders, three active
Auctioneer: Haesley Cush
The buyers were a local family who were downsizing, while the sellers were a family moving to Northern NSW for a tree change.
“It’s a riverfront house in New Farm which is rare to come across, and this was an entry-level price for a river front house in New Farm,” Mr Darwon said.
“Brisbane is in a really great position, we just had 12 auctions with an 80 per cent clearance rate.”
9 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley
Sold under the hammer for $2.21 million
Ray White New Farm - Tom Lyne
Four registered bidders, three active
Auctioneer: Haesley Cush
The buyer was a local investor with a long-term vision for the property.
“You're buying a piece of history and an asset that's performed consistently in a fast growing pocket of Brisbane city,” Mr Lyne said.
“All registered buyers were all local. We had some interstate enquiry but ultimately didn’t translate into serious buyers.
“Bidding opened at $1.5 million and the property was on the market at $1.85 million. We saw some really strong bidding from then on to get us to the winning bid of $2.21 million.”
Sold under the hammer for $2.21 million
Ray White Bulimba - Zita Durand
Four registered bidders, three active
Auctioneer: Haesley Cush
Buyers were a local family looking to upsize. They had recently sold in the area.
The sellers were another family who were looking for a lifestyle change.
“It’s a beautiful contemporary, arhitectural home,” Ms Durand said.
“We had about 23 groups through the first open home, so we had strong interest.”
85 Grenfell Street, Mount Gravatt East
Sold under the hammer for $2.39 million, $90,000 above reserve
Ray White Holland Park - Sim Gill and Gemma Fothergill
Six registered bidders, six active bidders
The buyers were a young couple who were going to use the home for dual living with their parents.
The sellers were a couple of downsizers who had been dual living with the daughter and grandchild, who had since moved out.
“It was an amazing auction with a fantastic result,” Mr Gill said.
“The sale set a new street record and the highest sale price this year for Mount Gravatt East.
The market has been really good, and while interest rates have gone up we’ve not seen things dropping off. The high end is performing really well. It's rare to find a home of this quality in this area.”
Melbourne
With the Queen’s birthday long weekend behind us, real estate activity saw a sharp increase across Melbourne this weekend.
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said the number of auctions had jumped once again.
“We’re back to full speed in the auction market this week, with over 200 Ray White auctions scheduled across Victoria,” Mr Dullens said.
“What we see is when there is clear air, again and again we experience strong auction numbers across the market.”
With recent interest rate rises and increased listings hitting the market post the election, the overall real estate landscape is returning to a more balanced level.
“We have seen across the last few weeks that strong activity remains in the market,” Mr Dullens said.
“Buyers appear to have priced in both the recent interest rate rises as well as the anticipated future moves by the Reserve Bank when making their real estate decisions
“Sellers can take confidence that there are a large number of buyers ready to transact, but this needs to be at the right price for the right property as the boom conditions of last year subside and we return to more normal and stable results.”
Sold under the hammer for $1.082 million, $97,000 above reserve
Ray White Frankston - Ashley Weston and Jessica Page
12 registered bidders, seven active
Auctioneer: Matthew Condon
The buyers were a young family from Ringwood who were bidding over the phone while on holiday in Europe.
The sellers had lived in the home for many years before moving to Germany and renting the property out. Now they are moving back to Australia and have sold the home to relocate to a different suburb.
“The market is changing, it is a bit fickle,” Mr Weston said.
“Quality properties that are well presented are doing well.
“A and B grade properties are flying out the door but C and D grade properties are struggling if owners aren't putting in the effort to sell.”
Sold under the hammer for $1.96 million, $60,000 over reserve
Ray White Cheltenham - Kevin Chokshi and Elise Russell
Four registered bidders, four active
Auctioneer: Kevin Chokshi (pictured above)
The buyers were a young family from Brisbane whose friends inspected the property for them and bid on their behalf at auction.
The sellers were a local family who were relocating to another suburb to build a home.
“The market is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment,” Mr Chokshi said.
“People are still buying and there’s still activity but buyers need to adjust their offers and sellers need to adjust their expectations.
“I think there’s a bit of balance coming back to the market.”
14 Chadstone Road, Malvern East
Sold under the hammer for $1.945 million
Ray White Oakleigh - Jonathan Eaves and Tom Carroll
Three registered, three active
Auctioneer: Jonathan Eaves
All interested buyers were looking to knock down and rebuild in what Mr Eaves described as a “hoarder house”.
The winning bid went to a young family who were looking to knock down and rebuild their family home.
“It had a lot of clutter including newspapers from the 1950s. We targeted the marketing around a new home build or development site opportunity,” Mr Eaves said.
“We achieved quite a high price for something on Chadstone Road. Where a lot of homes on the surrounding streets in a similar condition are selling in the mid $1 million range, this property sold for closer to $2 million.”
Adelaide
Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said Adelaide’s auction clearance numbers had been spectacular.
“They’re still very strong clearance rates throughout Adelaide and South Australia,” Mr Morris said.
“Just 50 per cent of the way through my auctions for today I am 100 per cent sold, with an average seven bidder registrations per auction, and four of those participating.
“So far this year we’ve had 1300 auctions in South Australia with an 83.6 per cent clearance rate and an average of 7.6 bidder registrations.
“We’ve continued with our 30 per cent plus share of auctions around the state.
“Auctions are still very strong around South Australia, clearance rates still very strong, bidder registrations still very strong.”
Sold under the hammer for $935,000
Ray White Norwood - David Upadhyay and Nik Diamond
13 registered bidders, six active
Auctioneer: John Morris
The buyers (pictured above) were a family from Sydney relocating to Adelaide.
The seller was relocating closer to the city.
“It was a good quality build with four bedrooms and two living areas,” Mr Upadhyay said.
“There was a nearby shopping centre and itt was on a no through road, so it was a quiet street.”
118 Second Avenue, Royston Park
Sold under the hammer for $2.275 million - well over reserve
Ray White Norwood - Damien Fong and Brandon Pilgrim
Seven registered bidders, three active
Auctioneer: George Kargiotis
The buyers were a local family who were upsizing, while the sellers were a local family relocating.
“It’s a gorgeous character villa with 1375sqm which is a rarity around the area,” Mr Fong said.
“It has massive potential to add value. The market is still strong, there were plenty of people that turned up. The crowd was about 40 strong.
“There’s a bit less activity on the side of attendees through open homes but we’re still achieving fantastic results and buyer strength is still there.”
Sold under the hammer for $685,000
Ray White Norwood - Ryan Stapleton and Rajwant Singh
Nine registered bidders, three active bidders
The buyers were a local family who had missed out on a few previous auctions.
The sellers (pictured above) were a family looking to upsize, and are building a home closer to the city.
“This was a beautiful home. Good quality homes are still attracting a lot of bidders,” Mr Stapleton said.
“Well presented properties are performing. When we see properties that are struggling it’s properties that still would have struggled prior to Covid.”
