Sydney auctions: Two-bedroom Kirribilli apartment sells $900,000 above reserve!
Two balconies with panoramic harbour views, a clutch of cashed-up downsizers and a highly sought address pushed an apartment in a tightly held Kirribilli block $900,000 above reserve on Saturday.
Among the crowd of 50 who packed out the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at 25/50 Upper Pitt Street were a dozen registered buyers who meant business.
The Kirribilli pad was one of 539 properties scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday. By 6pm, the Domain Group had a clearance rate of 56.7 per cent from 294 reported results.
Auctioneer Josh Larsen barely finished calling for an opening offer when buyers' agent Peter Kelaher, of PK Property, made a $3.9 million starting bid.
It took only seconds for another bidder to top the opening offer, as well as the $4 million reserve, with a bid of $4.1 million. He was soon followed by a third bidder and a two-man race ensued between the pair, with the bidding climbing in $100,000 and $50,000 increments – right up to $4.8 million.
From there it jumped to $4.825 million, which the winning bidders — an upper north shore couple looking to downsize — topped with a knockout bid of $4.9 million.
“We only started [looking for a property] 10 days ago … it's the ultimate downsize,” said one of the buyers, who did not wish to be named.
“It's more than I wanted to pay, but having spoken to lot of friends … paying a bit more than you want to doesn't matter [in the long run].”
The result was well above the the suburb's median apartment price of $1,282,500 and more than 17 times the $280,000 it last traded for in 1980.
“It's the highest over reserve that I've ever sold,” said Nigel Mukhi of Di Jones Lower North Shore Neutral Bay. He attributed its popularity to the strong downsizer demand and tightly held nature of the building, particularly the upper floors.
“About 90 per cent [of my interested buyers were] downsizers, they're not as reliant on finance, so less impacted by recent lending restrictions,” Mr Mukhi said.
Mr Kelaher dropped out of the race shortly after his opening bid. He felt the property would have been fair value at $4.5 million.
“But it's got a Kirribilli postcode, they're not making any more of them, so the price went further,” he said. “Plus the majority [of buyers] were downsizers and they've got money to spend.”
Mr Kelaher said there was also pent-up downsizer demand due to a lack of suitable stock.
“Each month they can't find [a place], they get more aggressive with their bidding,” he said.
In the inner west, where 74 auctions were scheduled, more than 100 people turned out to see if a warehouse conversion in Annandale would sell.
The former automative workshop at 22 Nelson Street was painstakingly transformed into a four-bedroom home. It was bought in 2013 by builder Joe Sidoti, director of developers SQ Projects, for $1,525,000.
There were five registered bidders at the auction but it was ultimately a two-man race for the 274-square-metre property.
Bidding started at $3.7 million and climbed in a mix of $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 increments for much of the auction. About 30 bids were made before the hammer fell.
It sold to a young couple from Glebe for $4.18 million — $80,000 above reserve — through Chris Nunn from BresicWhitney Glebe, who showed about 250 groups through the property.
In Hunters Hill, there was another two-man race for a unique property – a lawn tennis court.
Bidding on the 900-square-metre block, with approved plans for a five-bedroom house, started at $2.9 million and climbed well above the $3.3 million reserve as two young families vied for the keys.
The tennis court at 31 Woolwich Road sold through Matthew Ward of Ward Partners for $3.55 million, well above the $2.8 million records show it last sold for back in 2016.
Bidding from two parties wasn't enough to stop a three-bedroom townhouse at 8B Castlefield Street, Bondi, being passed in at $2.15 million.
The opening offer of $2 million was less than the $2.1 million agent Simon Exleton of McGrath Edgecliff previously sold it for at the peak of the market in 2017. After three bids the property was passed in, $50,000 short of its reserve.
Mr Exleton was still in negotiations with the buyers on Saturday afternoon and expected the property to sell in coming days.
In Coogee, a three-bedroom house at 27 Pauling Avenue, sold under instructions from NSW Trustee & Guardian, went $555,000 above reserve.
Bidding started at $1.7 million and quickly passed the $1.8 million reserve as half of the eight registered bidders competed for the keys. The house was snapped up for $2,355,000 by a local, who bought it for his daughter. It sold through Joe Recep of N G Farah.
Source: Kate Burke, Journalist for Domain