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All eyes were on the real estate market today to see how it performed, and the leading auction house Ray White, reported buyer numbers were out in force across Australia.
The Ray White Group booked a healthy 77 per cent preliminary auction day clearance rate today with 4.5 bidders registered on every lot.
The leading group’s innovative in-house real time action data produces some insightful trends which shows that the “sold prior” rate jumped up to 17 per cent this week, which was no surprise given the Stage 4 lockdown in Melbourne.
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania Chief Executive Officer Stephen Dullens said it was pleasing to see that, once again, the Melbourne property market remained “resilient and strong”.
Online auctions were conducted today from our auctioneer’s garages, spare rooms and home offices, and they all went off without a hitch and in fact, the group cleared 80 per cent of auction stock in Melbourne.
“No matter what gets thrown at us, we can handle it. Our members are well prepared and well versed at online auctions and today saw a strong level of activity across all price points.” Mr Dullens said.
“We have called almost 700 auctions online since March across Victoria. Our auctioneers have mastered the art of creating competition in isolation.
“After a week with so much change across Victoria, it has been tremendous to see such fantastic results achieved across all property segments in Melbourne.
“Despite Stage 4 restrictions commencing in Melbourne and Stage 3 across regional Victoria, it has been pleasing to see so many successful sales and one of our best clearance rates of the year.
“Our teams spent time this week moving some auctions earlier, pushing some auctions later and ensuring they did whatever required to achieve the best results for our customers.
“Buyers logged online in their droves, with fierce competition on many of our online auctions and a number of results well, well ahead of vendors expectations.”
Ray White Victoria Chief Auctioneer Matthew Condon (and father of four small children pictured auctioning from his spare room at home today) said it was “an exceptional day of auction results in Melbourne”.
“Based on preliminary data from the Ray White Group today’s auction day clearance rate currently sits at 80 per cent with an average of 2.7 average bidders per auction,” Mr Condon said.
Stage 4 restrictions failed to put a dampener on this weekend’s Melbourne auctions with a $1.35 million sale right off the bat through Ray White Frankston.
With a price guide of $1.25 to $1.35 million, the three bedroom Frankston South retreat at 59 Stotts Lane sold under the hammer for $1.35 million - $50,000 above reserve with both registered bidders actively participating.
Ray White Frankston Principal | Director Ashley Weston and Agent Tamara Doubovtzeff oversaw the campaign and credited the sale to some creative marketing.
“The buyer was a woman from Glen Iris who, like the seller, is part of the Australian Native Plant Society,” Mr Weston said.
“Because of the amazing native gardens the property has, we thought it might be a good idea to have the society post the house on their Facebook page and that’s how the buyer first found out about it.
“She had one inspection and just fell in love with the gardens and the house so she’s over the moon that she can now call it her own.”
The Frankston team also sold 104 Kars St, Frankston South for $926,000 through agent Ellis Schofield. Mr Weston said there is plenty of success to be had in the market at the moment.
“The market has been buoyant. Obviously supply is a big issue - our listings are 30 per cent down on last year,” the Frankston Principal and Director said.
“But buyer interest is really strong and we’ve had a very busy week closing deals heading into lockdown.”
Topping the Ray White auction leaderboard in Melbourne this weekend was the sale of 12 Glenmore Cres, Black Rock which hit the market at $2.45 million, eventually selling for several hundred thousand more.
The five bedroom Black Rock mansion was sold by Ray White Carnegie Agent Tom Grieve who said the auction was originally scheduled for August 22 but brought forward due to Stage 4 restrictions.
“What was meant to be a four week campaign turned into a two week campaign because we won’t be able to get anyone through in the coming weeks and we didn’t want it sitting there gathering dust,” Mr Grieve said.
“We thought we may as well bring it forward because we had already had a lot of genuine buyers through.
“Right from the get go, we had a lot of enquiries because an offering like this is particularly rare so that generated a lot of interest.
“The sellers are thrilled, they didn’t think they would get this price even prior to COVID.”
Mr Grieve ran the auction from his garage (pictured above) in line with the new restrictions while the rest of the online auction process stayed the same. There were nine registered bidders with two actively battling it out.
Ray White Bundoora also recorded amazing results selling three from four under the hammer. The stand out sale was 4 Aruma Court, Bundoora selling for $790,000 through Agent Jon Challands.
Mr Challands said despite restrictions the campaign was solid with 30 groups through inspections, mainly made up of local first home buyers.
“The buyer had only been looking for a month, unfortunately their landlord had decided to move back into the property they were renting meaning they needed to buy now,” Mr Challands said.
“The sellers on the other hand had been thinking about selling for 12 months and finally decided to pull the trigger so they could move out of the city.
“They felt the timing was right and would have listed regardless. If anything, COVID has worked in many sellers' favour because of the lack of competition on the market.”
Ray White Glen Waverley Area Manager Darryl Wickham pulled forward the auction of 2/1 Cornish Road, Burwood East by a week to today as he’d already had a tonne of interest and couldn’t take any more buyers through after Wednesday.
Some 16 registered bidders jumped online from their own homes to compete for the single level three bedroom brick unit. Pictured above is Principal and Auctioneer Andrew Davies called the auction from his home (in his warm winter slippers.)
The final price under the hammer of $957,000 smashed through the reserve of $880,000.
“There were mixed emotions from the sellers as they were finalising an estate and the first home buyers who bought it were nervous but excited afterwards,” Mr Wickham said.
Buyers Yuna and Eric, who live in the Glen Waverley, watched a few online auctions during the week to get familiar with the format before their own event.
“Everything is done online now in 2020, so we are comfortable with the process but it is our first time we have ever bid and bought at auction,” the pair said.
“It’s a good day to buy on 08/08, it’s been lucky for us, but we didn’t pay too close attention to the date until after we had bought.”
The Ray White Taylors Lakes team sold not one but three homes today through online auction. The success began with the sale of 41 Spellman Avenue, Sydenham by agent Dianne Robinson (pictured above). The four bedroom property sold for $662,000 with six registered bidders.
Fellow agent George Skizas also sold 9 Cooper Court, Delahey with seven registered bidders for $650,500 - $65,500 above reserve. While 33 Kingsley Place, Delahey attracted five registered bidders and sold for $27,500 above reserve at $597,500.
Ray White Principal Peter Travlos said he puts the team’s success down to their hard work from the minute Stage 4 restrictions were announced.
“We didn’t let it affect us, instead we just thought about our vendors and what we can do to help them because at the moment it’s about them not us,” Mr Travlos said.
“Over the 48 hours prior to the lockdown, we doubled the amount of inspections and worked overtime to make sure we took every single potential buyer through each property.”
The Taylors Lake Principal said all three auction dates were moved forward and were lucky to have even two weeks online.
“It’s an amazing result for our team that after only two weeks we sold all three above reserve, with between five and seven registered bidders on each,” Mr Travlos said.
“We are going to take this weekend to celebrate the success and then come Monday we will go back to thinking about how we can get the best outcome for our remaining auctions.
“Luckily, in the days before the lockdown we were able to get the whole team out to every single property to take videos and photos and are fully ready to support our vendors and find the right buyers for their properties while working virtually.”
In Sydney, Ray White Maroubra | South Coogee Director Nader Hotait sold 18 Brisbane St, Chifley for $2.630 million some $430,000 over its reserve price.
With nine registered and three bidders active, a local family won the keys to upsize in the area.
“All the buyers were local and they were all attracted to a turnkey home where there is literally nothing to do.My sellers are over the moon with the result. We had more than 100 groups through the property during its campaign.”
Ray White Surry Hills Directors Shaun Stoker and Ercan Ersan today sold 72 Hordern St, Newtown for $2.290 million, some $240,000 over its reserve after eight registered bidders competing in the on-site auction for the 1880s weatherboard home.
The three bedroom home with a study had undergone an imaginative redesign by award-winning architects Dunn & Hillam to create a light-filled family haven with its pavilion-style extension.
Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said there was no better time to transact than now.
“We’ve seen strong competition across Sydney auctions this weekend. We saw an average of five registered bidders and three active bidders across Ray White auctions,” Mr Pattaro said.
“In recent times there have been a number of first home buyers who have been hesitant to purchase although we have seen an uplift in first home buyer activity signalling that there could be some more positivity.
“Buyer activity continues to increase week on week with more buyers flooding open for inspections. Attendance in some areas are at similar levels to what we saw pre-COVID, this is a wonderful sign to what may come in spring.”
Today he called the auction of 34 Carlton Pde, Punchbowl for Ray White Punchbowl agent John Yatman which sold for $852,000 with eight registered bidders and half of them active in the auction.
Meanwhile in the capital, Ray White Canberra agent Tom Williamson signed up 17 registered bidders who were interested in 12 Ligar Place, Holder. This is the highest number of any bidders across Australasia today in the Ray White network.
“I would say 10 were active in the bidding too. It was a cracker auction. There were only two developers among the bidders and most people were keen on it as a family home,” he said.
Mr Williamson took 50 groups through the property during the campaign and everyone was attracted to the 1069sqm land holding at the end of a quiet cul de sac.
“This is a family-friendly area, not too far from the city.”
Ray White Queensland Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom said it’s been another outstanding week of auctions results for Ray White Queensland.
“Our clearance rate and average number of bidders per auction has remained consistent with recent weeks,” Mr Peereboom said.
“Our members continue to achieve fantastic sale prices for our customers through their ability to create competition.
“Buyers were bidding with absolute confidence this week and the social proof of auction creating every reason for them to bid further.
“We’ve seen performances across a multitude of markets with strong bidding from $300,000 right through to $2 million plus.
“For any seller considering coming to the market, the only question we have is what are you waiting for? Market conditions are in the favour of the seller and we look forward to assisting you with your sale.”
Ray White Ascot agent Damon Warat today sold 30 Bennison St, Ascot for $3,595,000 to a local family. This is the top reported sale under the hammer across the Ray White Group today.
There were three registered bidders, two were of them active, amid a large on-site crowd of 90+ people.
“The campaign attracted strong interest as it’s an immaculate presented property and it ticked all the boxes as it’s a large allotment on a sought after street. We had 80 groups of interested buyers through,” Mr Warat said.
Owners Chris and Patricia Stacey (pictured above with Damon Warat) are downsizing to live near the water after raising their family in the home over the last six years.
“It’s been a perfect family home for us and our daughters. We love the family room - it truly is the heart of the house,” Mrs Stacey said.
“We fell in love with the house ourselves after just one inspection but now the water is calling us. We are keen sailors so we are moving to the bayside.”
The Staceys are happy and over the moon with the result.
Queenslanders love a fixer upper like the two bedroom character home at 62 Princess St, Kangaroo Point. The love was clear when 13 registered bidders and the neighbourhood turned up at the midday auction.
Auctioneer pro and Ray White New Farm Principal Haesley Cush (pictured above) began the bidding at $600,000 while also reminding bidders that now is the time to take advantage of low interest rates.
They were all ready to give their best but only two bidders were left standing after bidding entered the final stretch with the house eventually selling for $800,000 through Ray White Bulimba Principal Scott Darwon.
Mr Darwon said the Kangaroo Point home has been popular with those keen to take on a renovation project as the property cannot be knocked down.
“There’s a lot of value in a property like this close to the CBD. The sub $1 million mark is the sweet spot in the Brisbane market so it’s not surprising this one went off,” Mr Darwon said.
“Low stock and low interest rates are keeping buyer activity high so I would say if you’re thinking about selling then now is the time to do it.”
The weather was cold in Adelaide but the auction market was still red hot in South Australia’s capital.
Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said there is an 80 per cent preliminary auction day clearance rate in the state today.
“The market seems to be very strong in and around Adelaide with a 30 per cent market auction share for the Ray White Group,” Mr Morris said.
“We are cutting well and truly above our competition yet again and delivering great results for our clients.
“With an average of five bidder registrations per auction and four of these participating, it looks like these great results are going to continue.
“Eight percent of auctions have bidding across the state at the moment and there was one auction in Torrensville that had 13 registered bidders with 100 per cent of the bidders participating and getting a great result for Ray White Unley.”
Ray White Unley agent Daniel Seach was the agent who managed to draw out 13 registered bidders on 66 North Pde, Torrensville which sold for $51,500 above reserve for $684,000.
Mr Seach said they chose to extend the campaign for an extra week because of the huge influx of buyer interest they received on the Torrensville home.
“We had nine open homes, making sure buyers had enough of an opportunity to look at the home,” the Unley agent said.
“In the end we had more bidders than we originally thought we would. The auction kicked off at $550,000 which was nice and strong and then it shot straight past reserve without any pauses.
“It eventually went to a local woman who is planning on renovating the home while still keeping the character features.”
Ray White Norwood agent Nick Roma recorded a massive sale for the three bedroom home at 63 Percy St, Prospect (pictured above) this afternoon selling the house for $720,000 under the hammer.
Seven registered bidders and about 50 onlookers turned out to watch Chief Auctioneer John Morris bring the hammer down on the house which sold above expectations.
Mr Roma said the auction began with strong competition among the bidders until there were only two left.
“We had three or four at the start and once we got to the magic number seven we had two serious people going to the end,” Mr Roma said.
The winning bidders were a young family jumping at the chance to get into the highly sought-after Prospect area. Mr Roma said it was a combination of great location and good groundwork that produced the successful result.
"We worked pretty hard with buyers and the genuine ones came ready to bid. The property itself is in a great location and well presented so that was a huge draw,” he said.
“Today’s result just showed what demand is out there at the moment so don’t hesitate because we can’t get enough stock. It doesn’t matter where, we have buyers everywhere looking to purchase.”
