Sydney auctions: Pymble home sells for $3.79m despite no registered bidder
A six-bedroom home on Sydney's upper north shore which failed to attract a single registered bidder managed to sell shortly after its scheduled auction for a huge $3.79 million.
The unconditional offer was made on the two-storey home at 45 Telegraph Road, Pymble, within two hours of it passing in on Saturday, Ray White Upper North Shore Rowan Lazar told Domain. "We had multiple offers on the property pre-auction but decided to go ahead with the auction,” Mr Lazar said.
The buyer who made the big offer was a woman who saw the property for the first time on Saturday, and fell in love.
“She had just relocated from Singapore [back to Australia] and had been renting a home in Gordon,” Mr Lazar said.
The sale was one of many on the opening weekend of spring, with agents reporting buyer confidence was high at auctions, even for those not bidding.
More buyers were out following a change of advice from the state government, that more than 20 people could be present at an auction, as long as agents followed COVID-19 plans to stop the spread.
By late Saturday, Sydney's preliminary auction rate was 62.4 per cent from 437 scheduled auctions and 338 reported results. There were 78 withdrawn.
Those results followed a steady August, in which the auction clearance rate was 59.7 per cent for the month – 11.2 percentage points lower than the same time last year due to the impact of the pandemic.
An auction in the lakeside cul-de-sac of 14 Malcolm Street, Narrabeen, set a record after selling for $4.27 million on Saturday.
Clarke and Humel agent Garry Greco said the sale was the suburb record for a non-beachfront property.
Five registered bidders, two of them active, watched the four-bedroom home sell for the expected price. The buyers were a family from the northern beaches, looking for another waterfront home.
Mr Greco said buyers were looking for properties that had not even come onto the market.
“Market sentiment is really strong,” Mr Greco said. “Some properties that are still off market are trading before they hit the market.”
One of the biggest auctions for the weekend was that of a six-bedroom home, with a tennis court at 41 Newton Road, Strathfield.
The tennis court was used as the site of the auction, allowing the 12 registered bidders and other onlookers to be able to socially distance.
The home garnered a massive $4.4 million opening bid, selling for $5,502,000 — $652,000 above the reserve.
Richards Matthew Real Estate director and auctioneer Matthew Everingham said the sale was a deceased estate, with two siblings selling their former family home.
He said the vendors had been open to sell at the start of spring because stock was so low.
“People have been waiting for the spring market to kick in,” Mr Everingham said. “We've definitely seen a change in the attitude of people looking at real estate – they want to buy now.”
The buyer of the property on 1416 square metres was a family wanting to be closer to the schools in Strathfield.
They are planning to tear down the existing house and replace it with their dream home, he said.
There were other deceased estates, likewise selling for millions.
A three-bedroom home at 39 Alfred Street, Rozelle, sold for $2.2 million; a builder who lives in the same street made the winning bid.
Ray White Rozelle director David Meadowcroft said the highest offer the vendors had received before the auction was $1.85 million.
“The WestConnex development is drawing an awful lot of buyers to this area because they know in the future they'll be in close proximity to Parramatta and airport access, minus any traffic lights,” Mr Meadowcroft said.
A four-bedroom house in the same family for 48 years also sold as a deceased estate on Saturday.
The sale of 18 Carey Street, Randwick, was an emotional one, McGrath Coogee's Amanda Rekes said.
Fourteen registered bidders fought it out for the keys, with a family who live just a few streets away making the winning bid of $3.27 million.
“They're planning to do some renovations down the track,” Ms Rekes said.
* Sourse - Meissa Heagney - Domain.com