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The Ray White Group closed out April with a whopping 2858 scheduled auctions for the month, the largest for 2022 and up 50.1 per cent compared to a year ago.
South Australia and Victoria had tremendous weeks with their clearances sitting at 84.2 per cent and 80 per cent respectively on auction day. Both up on last year and above their six and 12 month averages.
On the day, the leading auction group had more than 400 auctions scheduled today and the preliminary clearance was 76 per cent nationally. There was some 4.2 average registered bidders per action and three of those were active.
The top sale was in Paddington where a beautiful Sydney terrace with a cherished address sold for $3 million, while in Adelaide a whopping 35 bidders turned out, all vying to buy a totally dilapidated but large unit in a coveted location. It eventually sold for $415,000 to a neighbour.
All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia this week to see if it raises the cash rate after its board meeting on Tuesday.
Inflation has hit levels not seen in 20 years. The jump was driven by the rising cost of fuel construction and groceries, which have not been this high since the GST was introduced.
Ray White Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee said it was looking increasingly likely that the cash rate will rise on Tuesday after inflation data came in at 5.1 per cent annually.
“If it's not addressed, it is likely that it will continue to grow and as a result, interest rates might have to go a lot further,” Ms Conisbee said.
“As we came out of the worst of the pandemic, it was always expected that inflation would be high however it was expected to be transitory. Now there are other external factors which are keeping prices higher for longer - in particular, the war in the Ukraine, blocked supply chains and continued shut downs in China. Higher interest rates won’t fix any of these but it will slow down the economy and prevent it overheating.”
NEW SOUTH WALES
Ray White New South Wales chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said that despite the uncertain times of potential interest rate rises and the federal election, sellers should have great confidence in the fact there’s still an average of four registered bidders across Sydney auctions with three being active.
“There is a shortage of top tier stock and buyers are prepared to sit and wait until the right home becomes available. Property prices for top grade homes are holding strong and still obtaining top dollar,” he said.
“We aren't seeing buyers stretch themselves as much as we saw last year, with more buyers suggesting that they have other options, something we haven't seen or heard in the market in a while.”
Ray White Woollahra | Paddington lead agent: Clay Brodie - 0451 965 119
Sold under the hammer for $3 million
8 registered bidders, 6 active
Auctioneer: James Kerley, Ray White
Clay Brodie said the buyers were all mostly Paddington locals. The new buyers already own property in the street and were looking for a project. “Hopetoun is one of the top streets in Paddington. The sellers have owned the property for over 20 years and it's been an investment property.” Asked about the market, Mr Brodie said there was naturally some hesitancy right now with all the talk of rate rising imminent “but quality properties in good areas are still selling well”.
Ray White Surry Hills lead agent: Jack McGhee - 0423 783 979
Sold under the hammer for $1.280 million
4 registered bidders, 3 active
Auctioneer: James Keenan, Ray White
Just two blocks from Crown St, this Surry Hills terrace had been owned for 27 years and mainly used it as an investment property. The gem attracted a lot of attention from builders and renovators and the locals who won the keys plan to renovate straight away. Mr McGhee said the property attracted one interstate bidder from Brisbane and the rest were locals.
3 Daphne St, Botany (sellers pictured above)
Ray White Eastern Beaches Lead agent: Angus Gorrie - 0418 282 853
Sold under the hammer for $1.170 million, $1 million reserve
4 registered bidders
Auctioneer: James Hayashi, Ray White
“Things are still good, we’ve sold 75 per cent of this weekend’s auctions now, and we had action on everything. At 3 Daphne St, the property attracted a lot of interest from local buyers and eventually sold to someone renting nearby in Rose Bay,” Mr Gorrie said.
VICTORIA
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said that despite the interrupted April, results remained strong.
“With the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends behind us, the property market has once again returned to full activity,” Mr Dullens said.
“Across Victoria, Ray White has almost 250 scheduled auctions this week, in line with some of our strongest weeks this year and around 50 percent higher than the same time last year.”
Despite lots of talk of inflation and interest rate rises, April has once again proven a strong month across Victoria.
“Our April results are set to surpass the results achieved this time last year, which was at the time our strongest ever April. Demand from buyers and auction results remain strong, with preliminary results showing this week an average of 3.6 bidders per auction.”
Ray White Craigieburn Lead agent/auctioneer: Daniel Diamantopolous - 0412 102 744
Sold for $945,000 under the hammer, $850,000 reserve
10 registered bidders, 5 active bidders
The house is not what you'd expect in the area. The seller is a sign writer and created this gorgeous blown up picture of a street in Havana, Cuba in the living room. They've always wanted to go but never been able to so this is the next best thing. Her husband collects old cars which also feature.
Mr Diamantopolous has had a huge day and called four auctions and sold them all under the hammer.
“The day kicked off early at Royal Terrace and the bidding opened high at $820,000 and then it was a race to the finish. A local family won the auction. The market is still good,” he said.
Moving on, Mr Diamantopolous then sold 61 Clopton Rise, Craigieburn for $1.190 million under the hammer to a local family. There were four registered bidders and they all participated in the auction. Later at 25 Mallard Circuit, Craigieburn sold for $860,000 in a bittersweet sale for its owners and finally 13 Surrey Court, Craigieburn sold for $851,000 after five bidders battled it out.
“There were bidders everywhere today looking to buy. There is still confidence in this market, and the only way to sell is by auction and in the street so everyone can see to the sellers as it's the most transparent way for all to see the market’s activity.”
Ray White Bundoora lead agent/auctioneer: Andrew Mizzi - 0410 304 000
Sold for $880,000 under the hammer
5 registered bidders, 4 active bidders
The sellers bought the property from Andrew Mizzi some 18 years ago and they’ve done a great renovation and today sold their investment property. “They paid $260,000 originally, so they have seen great growth over the years. All the buyers were local, within a 5-10km radius, and there was a large crowd,” Mr Mizzi said. “This one was highly contested and the sellers are over the moon. No-one was left wondering.”
QUEENSLAND
6 Woodville Pl, Annerley (pictured)
Ray White Annerley lead agent Geoff Sellars - 0423 159 423
Sold for $1.217 million under the hammer, reserve $1.1 million
5 registered bidders, 4 active bidders
In front of a big crowd of 40 people, a local first home buyer family secured the keys to this character home on 549sqm of land. “Our stock levels are not bad, in fact we have just completed our best month ever in April. We are dealing with quality over quantity,” Mr Sellars said.
“We are getting three to five committed bidders and we haven’t seen too much softening in prices. That market still has energy and I don’t think we’re going to see any distress sales due to rate rises but of course people need to stay realistic on price expectations.”
Ray White Paddington agent Judi O'Dea
Sold for $2.275 million
8 registered bidders
There was a marathon auction for this large family home on 2314 sqm of land on the Brisbane River. Eight registered bidders arrived to buy the home, which was built by the current owners in 2009.
44 Horizon Ave, Ashmore (pictured above)
Ray White Surfers Paradise lead agent: Nick Baxter - 0403 080 562
Sold for $1.78 million under the hammer, reserve $1.6 million
11 registered bidders, 6 active bidders
Auctioneer: Peter Camphin
In front of a crowd of 100 people, Mr Baxter sold this gorgeous coastal Hamptons style home for $1.78 million. “We had all local bidders and the sellers were ecstatic, they were over the moon with the result. The property attracted a lot of attention as it was very unique and a beautiful renovation,” Mr Baxter said.
Ray White Rochedale lead agent Stan Egawa - 0466 999 300
Sold under the hammer for $1.54 million
7 registered bidders
Mr Egawa said the bidding started at $1 million for this big entertainer in one of the best pockets of Mt Gravatt. The agent ran a three week auction campaign and had more than 50 buyer inspections with a strong interest from them. The sellers bought the house back in 2017 in a completely different condition and they have revamped the house over the years into what they have now.
Ray White Beenleigh lead agent Glenn Hamilton - 0434 562 378
Sold for $482,500 under the hammer
4 registered bidders, 2 active
In front of a crowd of 40 people, a first home buyer and a local investor battled it out. ‘WE had about 35 groups through during the campaign and it was a mix of first home owners and investors. In the end the investor from Brisbane won the keys. Buyers are definitely wary of over-spending, Mr Hamilton said. He also said talk of rate rises next week may have dampened the number of buyers who attended the auction.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris (pictured below) said local buyers, sellers and agents were choosing to ignore any stories of a downturn in property prices. “We're still selling over 80 per cent of properties under the hammer with an average of eight registered bidders per auction,” Mr Morris said.
“With the sale above the highest offer sitting at 15.5 per cent - that's one of the highest in the country and something I am very proud of.
“That Adelaide affordability story has always made it attractive for home buyers and the continuing growth that we've had over the past 18 months - while welcomed by the sellers, hasn’t deterred the buyers much in and around Adelaide.
“Investors are making up a quarter of all purchases around the state. So that's a good thing for the sellers in this market. Ray White makes up 27 per cent of this week's auction numbers throughout the state. And we have an internal share of 43.6 per cent that has stayed pretty consistently above 40 per cent for the whole year.
“We’re seeing unbelievable numbers, incredible figures and yet again, it doesn't look like anything slowing anytime soon.”
Ray White Norwood lead agent Stefan Siciliano - 0403 171 489
Sold under the hammer for $818,000, reserve $680,000
25 registered bidders, 9 active bidders
Auctioneer John Morris, Ray White
Mr Siciliano ran yet another textbook auction campaign with lots of local interest. He’s not sold one single auction prior in the last few years such as his devotion to the auction method to create the most competition for his owners.
“The buyers were all locals and we had about 80 people in the crowd watching on. The winning bidder joined in early and he was determined from the get-go to buy his family a home after renting in the western suburbs. The sellers are over the moon too,” he said.
Later Ray White Glenelg agent Sam Paton sold 13 Travers St, Sturt for $796,000.
Chief Auctioneer John Morris gave a shout out to all the underbidders at Ralph St to go and check out Travers St if they missed out. This shows the nature of the collaboration between members and offices at the leading property group.
Ray White Norwood lead agent: Nick Borrelli - 0432 270 893
Sold under the hammer for $415,000
35 registered bidders, 9 active bidders
This absolute renovator's delight was in a high demand location. It was larger than normal for a unit with a really big private yard, so there were lots of people looking to flip to sell on or renovate.
“It was a completely dilapidated unit in Broadview which was unliveable. We ended up with 35 registered bidders. The estate needed to sell the property for whatever they could, with it selling for $415,000 which was about $100,000 more than we expected,” Mr Borrelli said.
“There was a mixed bag of bidders: some builders, some investors and some flippers but in the end the winning bidder lived across the road and he was looking for a project for his son.”
