First home buyer snaps up Mortdale unit, homes in Connells Point and Petershan, and family beats investors in Balmain
Updated ,first published
A first-home buyer outbid seven other lots on Saturday, paying $943,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in Mortdale.
Corner apartment facing north 3/35 Oxford Street He had a guide and $800,000 in reserves.
The property was one of 807 properties scheduled to go up for auction in Sydney this week; It was the market’s first test after Chancellor of the Exchequer Jim Chalmers announced changes to the federal budget that would provide tax concessions for investment properties, as well as supply measures to boost home ownership.
As of the evening, Domain Group had recorded a pre-auction approval rate of 51 percent from 445 results reported during the week, while 168 auctions had been withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the liquidation rate.
The liquidation rate is slightly lower than the previous week’s preliminary result of 55 percent, but both point to a weakening market as buyers adjust to three cash rate hikes this year.
Fifteen people registered to participate in the Mortdale auction, eight of whom are active.
Bidding opened at $700,000 and slowly progressed in increments of $5,000 and $10,000. When bidding reached $800,000, bids dropped again and increased in increments of $2,000 and $1,000.
Ray White Kingsgrove selling agent Karl Flaifel said buyers were impressed by the location of the “clean and tidy” apartment, which was in the corner of the street-facing building.
The successful bidder was a young man buying his first home who attended the auction with his mother. He plans to go inside.
Bidders were a mix of first home buyers and property owners.
A local couple in Petersham, with one young child and another on the way, successfully bid on a three-bedroom house on Saturday, paying $2.07 million.
Five-meter wide, single-fronted country house 3 Audley Street The reserve, set at $2.2 million, was sold for $130,000. The property had a guide of $2 million.
There is no legal requirement for a seller’s reserve to match their property’s price guide.
Bidding opened at $1.95 million and initially increased in $30,000 increments after auctioneer Toby Llewellyn rejected smaller bids of $10,000. But it slowed to bids of $20,000, $10,000 and finally $5,000 before stopping.
All three registered bidders took part, while a young couple left the local man, who was on the phone to his wife in London, to compete with a man from Mosman who was bidding on behalf of his daughter.
When the final offer was made the Mosman man admitted “he owns it” and Llewellyn joked: “Well, it’s my call, sir.” After consulting with the seller the property was listed on the market and the hammer fell.
The salesman is downsizing to an apartment with his daughter.
BresicWhitney sales representative Frederico Fraga-Matos said nine offers in 20 minutes reflected the current mood of the market.
“Six months ago people were disappointed with how strong the market was,” he said. “But right now the market isn’t that strong and there are some great opportunities and some buyers are still second-guessing. They’re going to be out in force in a few months.”
In Connells Point, a well-kept 1960s red brick house in original condition sold for $1,667,000 – $167,000 above its reserve – to a local family looking for more space.
Seven parties signed up to bid for the keys to the three-bedroom house. 39 Condor Crescentfour are active. The guide was $1.55 million.
The bidding started at $1.4 million, up $25,000 from the initial bid. Bids dropped to $1,000 before the hammer finally fell. Records show it last traded for $500,000 in 2009.
While it’s too early to see the impact of the federal government’s budget announcement, negative gearing and capital gains taxes are not the biggest concerns for most buyers, McGrath Sans Souci sales representative Robert Juric said.
“[Interest] “Interest rates will have a much greater impact on the market than reforms,” he said. “Reasonably priced, quality stocks will always be popular; “It doesn’t matter if the market is up, down or sideways.”
In Balmain, a young family holidaying in Bali outbid an investor by paying $2.32 million for a three-bedroom house with a study.
Cooley auctioneer Jake Moore rejected the opening bid of $1.7 million. 2 Cardwell Streetbefore a seller made a $2 million offer. The property had a guide of $2 million to $2.2 million and a reserve of $2.25 million.
All five registered bidders were active; bids rose in $50,000 increments to $2.15 million, then dropped to $10,000 and $5,000.
Successful bidders plan to move into and improve the home over time.
The family is on holiday in Bali and they made a representative offer on their behalf. Bidders were a mix of investors planning to renovate and owner/builders looking to “flip it”.
The agency’s sales representative, Luke Evans, said he was pleased with the result, which came in at $70,000 above reserve in an uncertain market.
“There’s definitely a growing level of hesitancy on the buy side and some concern from sellers,” Evans said. “There were three more of us [bidders] who said they would be there [today] and they did not come.”
Robyn Willis is a property journalist and former lifestyle editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
