A-May-zing end to stellar month of auctions

THE Ray White Group has capped off a stellar month of auctions with an a-May-zing day in the field as Australasia's leading auction house set suburb records and defied the negative speculation around COVID-19 lockdowns to achieve multiple outstanding results for sellers.

Innovative preliminary internal data from the family-owned and led company showed auctions in May were up over 216 per cent on last year with more than eight in every 10 properties selling via an auction campaign - that coupled with 91 per cent of all auctions having active bidders.

The Ray White Group booked a preliminary auction day clearance rate of 86.8 per cent today, with locked down Melbourne coming in strong at 89.3 per cent, Sydney at 87.5 per cent, Brisbane at 86.7 per cent, and Adelaide at 83.3 per cent.

On the last Saturday of Autumn, the streets of Melbourne would normally be a sea of real estate activity, particularly with market conditions as strong as they are.

With the announcement of Victoria’s fourth lockdown earlier this week, and a pause to physical auctions and inspections for seven days, the “Super Saturday” status across the market was at risk.

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said it was pleasing to see that, once again, the Victorian property market remained resilient and strong.

“Our members are well prepared and well versed at online auctions and today saw a strong level of activity,” Mr Dullens said.

“After a week with so much change across Victoria, it's been tremendous to see such fantastic results achieved across all property segments in Melbourne. Despite these challenges, it's been wonderful to see so much activity to assist our customers and keep the real estate market active.

“While some auctions were pulled forward to beat the lockdown, a mountain of work from our agents saw the majority of auctions continue online - and that resulted in some spectacular outcomes with more than 100 online auctions conducted.

“Our auctioneers (Matt Condon pictured above and Jeremy Tyrrell pictured below) once again took to their lounge rooms and bedrooms to call auctions from their homes. Despite the challenges, we feel our valued clients have complete confidence in our ability to successfully auction online.

“Our preliminary clearance rate is well into the 80 per cent, a sign once again that the real estate market can combat anything that's thrown at it.”

One of the stand-out results of the day came courtesy of Ray White Oakleigh Senior Sales Executive Leigh Kelepouris and Sales Executive Eddy He as they successfully managed the $1.77 million sale of 5 Rebecca Road (below) in Malvern East.

“Last year, Ray White Oakleigh conducted more than 200 online auctions, so we are very well versed in the process and have the ability to pivot overnight,” Mr Kelepouris said.

“Outside of lockdown, we actually stuck to a hybrid form of online and onsite auctions, and that gave our seller confidence that going ahead instead of postponing was the right thing to do.

“The campaign attracted a whole range of buyers from people wanting to knock down and rebuild, knock down and build townhouses, landbank, or renovate into a family home.

“We had seven registered bidders online, five of whom were active, and the property sold for $120,000 over its reserve price.

“The gentleman who bought it had missed out on a number of auctions recently and lives just around the corner - he plans on knocking down and building his dream home.”

Another highlight of the day - and preliminary highest number of registered bidders for an auction with 36 - came in Macleod as Ray White Ascot Vale Sales Executive David Bignoux and Sales Associate Emily Attipa sold 33 Ferguson Street for $1.201 million - substantially over reserve.

“This was a tremendous result for our seller and the outcome was well beyond what we were hoping for and expected - we’re absolutely delighted for our clients,” Mr Bignoux said.

The behind the scenes set-up for online auctions for Ray White Victoria.

“There was so much interest with multiple active bidders online, and actually, the reserve was hit very early on in the auction and it just continued on from there. The eventual winning bidders were a young couple who were also first-home buyers.”

Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro (below) said strong registered bidder numbers at auctions were fuelling competition and ensured sellers were achieving the market’s best price.

“On certain campaigns, there’s a disparity between buyer feedback and the end sale price, as we’re noticing more buyers are keeping their cards close to their chest,” Mr Pattaro said.

“If you’re looking to buy, the question is, what are you waiting for? If you’re looking to sell, now is a great time to cash in and take advantage of what is a very strong selling market.”

There is nowhere else to start than the magnificent Maroubra multi, as Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro called two auctions for a combined total value of over $11 million.

The first magnificent result came courtesy of Ray White Brighton-Le-Sands I Ramsgate Beach Principals Elia Economou and Peter Tsekenis as they sold 48A Sackville Street (above) for $4.8 million - a whopping $600,000 over the reserve price.

“We had over 70 groups through during the campaign with a strong mix of buyers ranging from families and upsizers, to builders and renovators, there was a lot of local interest in this one - the winning bidders were indeed a local family who were upsizing,” Mr Economou said.

“It was a terrific home, in a great location, and the competitive environment that an auction is able to create is what helped drive such an excellent price for our seller.

“The market is very strong right now, especially for good properties in good locations, and that was evident in the fact five of the eight registered bidders actively competed for this one.”

Then it was time for the jewel in the crown as Ray White Maroubra I South Coogee Sales Agent Nader Hotait sold 309 Storey Street (above) for $6.45 million - hundreds of thousands over the reserve price.

“This is a record sale price for Storey Street and our seller is absolutely ecstatic - there was an incredible amount of interest, even at such a high price point,” Mr Hotait said.

“We had 180 groups come through and inspect with five of the six registered bidders raising their paddle to drive an incredible price - the outcome was nearly $1.5 million over the opening bid.

“Our seller was downsizing and the property itself was perfect for a family with teenage kids because of the separation of the lower level and it was a local family who ended up purchasing.

“I broke the Maroubra record in Mermaid Avenue back in February and that has really put the suburb on the map. It’s near a beautiful beach and has great local schools so it ticks many boxes.”

Ray White NSW Auctioneer Tim Snell calling 30 Gidley Street, St Marys, NSW.

Arguably the stand-out sale of the day came in St Marys as Ray White St Marys-Diamantidis Group Director Peter Diamantidis and Sales Associate Amber Boumelhelm successfully sold 30 Gidley Street (below) for $1.81 million - a whopping $920,000 over the reserve price.

“We publicly advertised the agreed reserve price from our seller and we also had a number of comparable sales in the area - the auction just went crazy on the day,” Mr Diamantidis said.

“The campaign was incredibly active throughout with the property appealing to a number of demographics and we had a whopping 22 registered bidders on the day with 10 of those actively competing. The final outcome set a new suburb record for a single residential property.

“You know when the opening bid starts above the reserve that it’s going to be a pretty special auction and our seller is absolutely over the moon with the result.

“St Marys is absolutely booming right now with its affordability, Westconnex tunnel, and the new metro station that will provide excellent transport links. We’re seeing a lot of first home buyers and developers coming out from the city to this suburb in particular.”

“I had a business for many years and unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to close down the business and this outcome today has taken a huge amount of financial pressure off of my wife and I,” said seller Pieter Boele.

“I could tell from all of the phone calls that I was receiving before the auction that there was a lot of interest and there was going to be a lot of competition but I certainly didn’t expect an outcome this good.

“I think many people saw the potential in the property and the land size and that drove a lot of competing bids on the day. I’m of course extremely happy, this is a once-in-a-lifetime outcome.”

It was then the turn of Ray White Caringbah Principal Wendy Samrani and Sales Executive Joseph Alam to achieve an outstanding result for their seller as they successfully managed the $1.27 million sale of 4/10 Nullaburra Road (above) in Caringbah - $145,000 over the reserve.

“Auction strategy is always the key to achieving the best result for our sellers and it’s up to us to use real-time data and feedback to create energy among the buyers,” Ms Samrani said.

“It was the first time this property had been offered to the market since being a new-build back in 1994 and the campaign attracted 90 groups and 12 registered bidders on the day.

“To give you an idea of how good an outcome this is, the townhouse next door sold less than two weeks ago for $1.08 million, and this three-bedroom villa sold for $190,000 more than that.

“The suburbs of Caringbah and Caringbah North are going gangbusters right now and the buyers were a couple from Little Bay who had been looking to buy since they sold in March.”

Ray White QLD Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom (above) said it had been another exceptional week of auctions in the Sunshine State with some superb sale prices due to fierce competition.

“We know right now we have so many buyers that want to purchase a property and are willing to get themselves into a position to bid on a completely unconditional basis,” Mr Peereboom said.

“We’ve had many situations where we’ve had offers prior to auction which the seller would have said yes to, but we’ve followed through with the process by getting a number of buyers in a position to bid on the day, and that’s resulted in sale prices exceeding the highest offer by a significant margin.

“If you’re looking at bringing your property to the market, please come with confidence knowing that we have more buyers than properties, we’re seeing great competition, and that’s resulting in excellent sale prices.”

There was an outstanding result for a quaint little cottage in Red Hill as 24 Pleasant Street (above), offered to the market for the first time in 18 years, was sold by Ray White Paddington (QLD) Sales Agent Judi O’Dea for $1.18 million.

“This auction took place via an in-room setting and it produced a really great atmosphere. The bidding started at $900,000 and quickly got to $1.05 million - it was then left to two bidders to battle it out from there, with a young couple the eventual winners,” Ms O’Dea said.

“The owners carried out a lot of work to get the property in a liveable and loveable state in time for auction with fresh coats of paint, new carpets, and thousands of dollars spent on restoring the beautiful stained-glass doors and windows.

“We had 90 groups through during the open homes, with mainly first home buyers but also some investors taking a keen interest, and in the end it came down to just a $2,000 bid to win the property for the couple who were born and bred in Ashgrove.”

It was a double delight day for Ray White Bridgeman Downs Sales Director Sonya Treloar as she sold two properties under the hammer and credited the low interest rate environment for the current strength of the market.

“There’s no doubt the property market is very strong right now and you can really tell there’s a lot of confidence out there - people are wanting to buy for sure,” Ms Treloar said.

“24 Brickfield Road (above) in Aspley was a really strong auction as the property sold to an investor for $1.1 million under the hammer.

“We had four registered bidders on the day and the final outcome was well above the highest offer we had received prior to the auction.

“It was then over to Stafford as we sold 138 Minimine Street (above) for $883,000 - a property that attracted over 120 inspections throughout the campaign.

“This one had 13 registered bidders and we witnessed really rapid fire bidding throughout the auction - it took a total of 42 bids for the hammer to fall in the end.

“This property was similar to the one in Aspley as the sale price was also well over the offers we had received prior. This goes to show that auction does get our sellers the best price.

The buyers of this three-bedroom, one-bathroom home were first home buyers and I hope they’re very happy there for many years to come.”

Ray White SA Chief Auctioneer John Morris (above) said latest data showed that Australasia’s leading property group called 41 per cent of all auctions in South Australia throughout April.

“This week, there were 148 auctions scheduled across the state which gives us a 29 per cent share, with 43 of those 148 being under the Ray White banner,” Mr Morris said.

“Next week that does rise again to 36.5 per cent with the market share remaining pretty consistent for Ray White, sitting between the 30-35 per cent range.

“Clearance rates at the moment are very, very strong. Everything I’ve auctioned off today has sold - with an average of 12 registered bidders per auction.”

One of the stand-out results of the day belonged to Ray White Henley Beach Selling Principal Anthony Fahey as he, alongside Sales Agent Tom Royal, successfully managed the $1,002,000 sale of 19 Newporter Terrace (above) in West Lakes Shore.

“Numbers were strong throughout the campaign, but the first week in particular was just crazy with the amount of interest that was in this property,” Mr Royal said.

“It attracted everyone from people wanting to build their dream home, buyers wanting to subdivide, investors, and people also wanting to renovate and live in the property.

“The location is just incredible with those to-die-for views of the lake and being so close to the beach and the eventual winning bidder, substantially over the reserve, was a developer.

“There’s no sign of the market slowing down at all. Buyer numbers are just as strong, and personally, I think Adelaide is beginning to catch up with other capital cities.”