Auction results from around the grounds

THE Ray White Group last week reported a preliminary clearance of 51 per cent plus a huge surge in the number of buyers in attendance and registered bidders.

Our state breakdown was strong in Victoria with a 59 per cent preliminary clearance, 47 per cent in New Zealand, some 63 per cent in ACT and 42 per cent in Queensland.

Attendance at the Ray White Group auctions saw more than 11,300 people this week attend our auctions with average crowd sizes, active bidders and registered all up which bodes well for Spring campaigns.

Ray White chairman Brian White said he was confident the "excesses of the markets" have been shaken off and the market will rebound this spring.

"I am confident the downhill slide is easing and there are better prospects of getting good prices [this spring]," he said.

"Confidence will increase on the back of low interest rates ... traditionally when the market is down, it is usually accompanied by a rise in interest rates."

"I am taking a lot of confidence [also] in what's happened in New Zealand, where a year ago, it tightened up, but it has come back."

The latest political shake-up is also unlikely to have an impact on buyer and seller motivations although a close election may have some impact, Mr White says.

"Going back on history, housing levers generally move independently to politics," he said.

Ray White had a 51 per cent clearance rate last week, a number that does not worry Mr White. "It's not that there are no buyers, it's vendor expectations," he said. Attendance at Ray White auctions have leapt, and registered bidders are rising. One of our auctions, a large 1224sq m residential site with a weatherboard residence on Florence Road in Melbourne's Surrey Hills sold for $2.228 million in front of 30 people. In Brisbane, 120 buyer groups inspected a brand new house at 33 Rockbourne Terrace in Paddington.

In Sydney, 36-year-old Joshua Hodgson had to change banks to get pre-approval to bid at today’s auction but this morning he won his dream apartment for $635,000 in Camperdown.

“It was a good deal,” an excited Mr Hodgson said of the modern 72 sqm one-bedroom apartment at 12/8 Sparkes St, which had the bonus of a huge 23 sqm terrace.

The sale price, through Ray White agents Ercan Ersan and Brendon Inthachack, was $35,000 above the reserve.

Mr Ersan said it was a good result, though the property would have sold for $650,000 a year ago. He had five bidders register — three of them active before auctioneer James Keenan, all first home buyers. “It’s the best time to buy now since before the boom started,” Mr Ersan said.

“It’s similar buying conditions to when the GFC hit … things that are good and presented nicely are still doing well, but if owners are cutting corners or it’s on a slightly busy street, buyers are happy to wait. But this one had a massive terrace, so you can wait as long as you like but you may not find one that’s got a terrace that big.” Mr Hodgson been looking for eight months to find a first home and said apart from the struggle to get a loan for the amount he wanted to borrow, it was also tough to find something under the $650,000 limit to avoid stamp duty.

At Newmarket, 14 Bearsden Avenue sold under the hammer for $1.75 million.

Ray White Ascot agent Ian Cuneo said there were eight registered bidders but the house was ultimately won by a family from Asgrove.

At Mitchelton, Ray White chief auctioneer Mitch Peereboom called 109A Blackwood Street, which sold for $1.105 million after some active bidding by five keen buyers.

“The price point in Mitchelton is really creeping up, with more and more selling for over $1 million,” he said. “It is still a very much undervalued suburb.”