DESPITE the ongoing lockdowns and restrictions, auction sellers today across Australia continue to capitalise on red hot buyer demand, incredible price growth and a shortage of stock that means less competition on the market.
The Ray White Group today recorded a national clearance rate of 84 per cent of the 75 auctions conducted.
Average registered and active bidder numbers came in at 9.8 and 4.8 respectively, proving one again that buyers remained totally undeterred by the lockdown markets.
Ray White Chief economist Nerida Conisbee said one of the main trends coming out of COVID-19 had been a greater desire for more space.
“Being stuck at home a lot is tough, but more challenging if you don’t have enough room to easily work or study,” Ms Conisbee said.
“Because of this, suburban living is having a renaissance at the moment, something that has not been seen since the 1970s.
“Despite this, living in a big house in the outer suburbs is still far more affordable than an inner city terrace.”
Looking at all sales over the past two years, Ms Conisbee said she had taken a look at the suburbs with the biggest and smallest houses.
“Topping the list for big properties are the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, as well as the Adelaide Hills,” she said.
“The suburb of Park Orchards tops the list with the average-sized home more than 1,700sqm, well over three times the average sized block of land.
“At the other end of the scale, houses in North Sydney are less than a tenth the size of houses in Park Orchards but cost on average $1 million more.
“And while the big house list is dominated by Melbourne and Adelaide suburbs, the small house list is dominated by Sydney and Brisbane suburbs.
“This perhaps reflects the more difficult geography to build large homes, and to adequately service them.”
Ray White NSW chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro (pictured below) said the market remained consistent with previous weeks, seeing strong bidding activity and property prices under the hammer.
“We continue to see buyers exceed their pre-auction offers, and buyers are happy to stretch their budgets to meet vendor expectations,” Mr Pattaro said.
“As we start to enter into the warmer months we’re seeing an influx of auction properties, meaning this would be a great time for more sellers to come to market.
“As we’ve seen throughout the year, sellers are fearful to come to market as they worry about having to re-buy.
“With more stock coming to market, more sellers have the opportunity to sell and re-buy which alleviates a common fear for sellers throughout 2021.”
The top sale of the day went to a Balmain property at 2/2 Trouton Street which sold for $3.45 million -- a great result for the sellers and Ray White Balmain agents Chris Williams and Violet Hilton.
Hunters Hill property 15/83-85a Pittwater Road recorded the sale with the highest number of bidders, 33 registered bidders on auction day.
The property sold for $1.527 million, a fantastic result for the vendors and Ray White Gladesville agents Robert Cassidy and Jessica Ryan.
Elsewhere, this two bedroom apartment with a Sydney Harbour Bridge view at 18/104 Lower St Georges Cres, Drummoyne, sold for $1,406,500, some $200,000 above reserve.
There was plenty of interest with 20 registered bidders and seven active bidders.
Ray White Drummoyne listing agent Fiona Hellams said most of the interest came from owner-occupiers but the winning buyers were local investors.
“The buyers live nearby and wanted to invest in something on the water,” Ms Hellams said.
“It’s a waterfront block with a lovely north-east aspect, you can see the Harbour Bridge.
“It was a decent sized apartment with a good floor plan in a quiet area.
“It was a great location, properties in that lower part of St Georges Crescent don’t often come on the market.”
Ms Hellams said the vendors had owned the property for about 18 years.
“They lived there when they had small kids, but had it as an investment ever since,” she said.
Meanwhile, this four-bedroom home at 48 Pine St, Randwick today sold for $2.789 million, a fantastic result for its sellers and Ray White Eastern Beaches agents Angus Gorrie and Samuel O’Reilly.
The sellers had owned the investment property for 20 years and decided it was time to sell.
The property received a lot of interest, with six registered bidders and five active bidders on the day.
“It’s on a great street and is a good entry point for a house in the area,” Mr Gorrie said.
“It had a level garden which appeals to the young families, and that’s exactly who bought it - a young family who lived locally.”
In Lidcombe, a tidy three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 53 Ostend St, Lidcombe sold for $1.93 million.
The property received a huge amount of interest with 25 registered bidders and eight active bidders on the day.
Ray White Lidcombe agent Steven Duong said the winning bid went to local owner-occupiers.
“The buyers had been looking for a unique prop like this for a long time,” Mr Duong said.
“It was a fantastic set up and it was ready to move in and it had a home office which everybody is looking for.
“It was very solid and structurally sound in a prestigious part of Lidcombe.”
Mr Duong said the vendors had lived in the property for about 27 years
“They’re semi-retired and relocating for a sea change,” he said.
While restrictions ease for regional Victoria, Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said the red-hot demand from buyers and extended ban on inspections in Melbourne was starting to create unforeseen issues.
“With the lockdowns in Melbourne continuing to extend, we’re seeing more and more customers becoming desperate with an urgent need to buy, sell or lease property,” Mr Dullens said.
“The ongoing ban on physical inspections continues to make these extremely important family and financial decisions almost impossible to make.
“Across the industry, concerningly we are seeing more and more examples of customers taking matters into their own hands.
“We have many examples where prospective buyers have knocked on the door or written notes to sellers, pleading for access to their homes.
“This occurs after being advised by the sales agent that an inspection isn’t possible.”
Mr Dullens said this led to the risk of the creation of an unregulated environment.
“An environment where surfaces aren’t cleaned, social distancing isn’t maintained and contact tracing isn’t possible - presents a substantial health risk to the community.
“After recent productive meetings, we would again welcome the opportunity to engage further with the government to help these desperate Victorian families.”
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon said despite the slow start to spring selling season, auction numbers were starting to pick up due to a sense of urgency to transact from both buyers and sellers.
“Auction results across Victoria continue to remain very strong with the shortage of properties available across Victoria creating a huge level of demand per property,” Mr Condon said.
“Preliminary data from the Ray White Group has revealed an average of eight bidders tuning in online today to bid for their desired property.
“Buyers are also bidding quickly and aggressively to ensure the best possible chance of securing a property.”
A stunning four-bedroom home at 9 Parkwood Rise, Ringwood North, was snapped up for $1.55 million at auction on Saturday -- a fantastic result for sellers Ross and Fi (pictured above) and for Ray White Ringwood listing agent Reuben Nadarajah.
The owners had lived in the beloved home for 16 years until their children grew up and moved out.
Now relocating to Ballarat in regional Victoria, the couple decided it was time to sell.
Mr Nadarajah said the property generated a lot of interest with 16 registered bidders and three active bidders on auction day.
“It’s the lifestyle of the property, it backs onto one of the major parks in Ringwood North,” he said.
“It was a bigger but older home. so it’s a bit of a blank canvas.
“It has a pool and it’s close to all the major schools.
“The virtual tours from the vendor Fi were brilliant and very personal.”
The winning bid went to a young family who had moved to Australia a year ago.
“Next year is their 10 year anniversary so it was an early anniversary present for them,” Mr Nadarajah said.
Elsewhere, a three bedroom residence on a 428 sqm block at 5 Halley Rd, Ferntree Gully sold under the hammer for $795,000.
There were 12 registered bidders and six active bidders, with the winning bid going to a first home buyer.
“The attractive part was that although it's not a compact block, it was a standalone house,” Ray White Ferntree Gully listing agent James Wilson said.
“The downsizer market seemed to like that it was single-level and easy to maintain.
“However, the highest bidder was actually a first home buyer.
“The main benefit for them, which is quite hard to get, was the workshop at the back of the garage, it was a benefit to him because he’s a mechanic.”
Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said Brisbane’s clearance rate was through the roof, reaching 95.5 per cent on Saturday.
“We’re reaching that milestone of clearance levels Queensland hasn’t seen for perhaps the last 20 years,” Mr Croft said.
“Bucking the trend that we’ve seen in the last few weeks is that local owner-occupiers are back in full force, counteracting that trend of southern buyers and investors snapping up property in our local markets.”
There was a record breaking sale in Acacia Ridge with 22 Chander St selling for $639,000 -- $69,000 above reserve.
With an opening bid of $400,000 the second bid jumped straight to $537,000 with 15 registered bidders and six active bidders.
Ray White Annerley listing agent Bevin Powell said the auction provided a great result for the vendors.
“The vendors were initially owner-occupiers but then they used it as an investment property,” Mr Powell said.
“They were ecstatic. When you’re drinking beer at 9.30am on a Saturday morning, you know you’ve got a good result.
“It was very fastidious and in a great location high up on the street.
“For a residential property it would have to be a record for a three-bedroom, one-bathroom, home in that suburb.”
Mr Powell said the new owners were a couple who intended to live in the home.
“They were owner-occupiers who wanted to enjoy the home and the location,” he said.
Competition was fierce for Wavell Heights property 42 Benyon Street, which sold for $1.21 million -- $285,000 above reserve.
Ray White Bridgeman Downs listing agent Claudia Rocha said the Wavell Heights area had been in high demand, with 18 registered bidders, and five active bidders at auction.
She said the most interest came from local owner-occupiers, however, the winning bid went to an interstate buyer who bought the property site unseen.
“The buyer was an interstate owner-occupier who planned to knock the current premises down and rebuild,” Ms Rocha said.
“The land size is what made the property so popular, it was a 776sqm block.
“Most of the interested buyers had also planned to knock down and rebuild.”
Ms Rocha said the vendor had grown up in the property which had been in her family for more than 60 years.
Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said there were strong numbers coming from South Australia at the weekend.
“The market does not look like it has slowed down at all, we’re stepping into spring for the first two weeks exactly how we intend to go on, it looks like nothing can slow us down,” Mr Morris said.
“There was an incredible market share throughout the state with around 40 per cent of auctions flying a yellow flag very proudly, and I can see that continuing for weeks and months to come.”
An Elizabeth Downs home at 249 Midway Road sold for $446,750 -- $17,750 above reserve -- a great result for vendors Cameron and Lauren, and Ray White Norwood agents Ryan Stapleton and Rajwant Singh.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom, home commanded a lot of interest, with 21 registered bidders, seven active bidders on auction day.
The winning bid went to a local family with two young children.
“I think the interest was due to a mixture of really low supply of good family homes in the area, and the home offering everything a family needed,” Mr Stapleton said.
“It was ready to move in, and really well looked after.”
After living in the home for seven years, with a family of their own, sellers Cameron and Lauren decided it was time for a change.
“We were looking for something a bit different and a bit bigger, something we want to stay in for a long time,” Cameron said.
He said he was glad they had decided to auction.
“We’re feeling pretty excited,” Cameron said.
“We never really thought of auctioning until it was put to us, but it made sense for what we were offering.
“We’re pretty happy with the result.”
The property at 2 Willow Avenue, Manningham, sold for $1.205 million -- $155,000 above reserve -- a great result for the vendors and listing agent Stefan Siciliano and Lawrence Cocca.
The property was hotly contested with 16 registered bidders and eight active bidders.
The winning bid went to a young family who intend to live in the home.
“It was the land size and the proximity to the city which made it so desirable,” Mr Cocca said.
