Auction wrap from around the grounds

CHRISTMAS came early for buyers and sellers across the nation today, as bidders flocked to Ray White Group's 384 scheduled auctions, with dreams of snagging the biggest present of all.

The leading auction house booked a preliminary auction day clearance rate of 75.5 per cent, with Sydney acting as the star on the top tree, with an 85 per cent clearance rate.

Early data showed a Polar-Express-like average crowd size of 34.6 per auction, with a bumper 3.9 registered bidders and 2.8 active bidders at auctions today, on average.

Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said the first official week of summer certainly didn't disappoint in the auction space.

"Ray White auction volume is up 13 per cent on this time last year and that really indicates strong competition within the market," Mr Pattaro said.

"The competition at auction certainly remains red hot, with the Inner West and Inner City buyers remaining the most aggressive."

And there really is nowhere else to begin than a proper Christmas cracker in Pymble, where Ray White Upper North Shore Director Matt Bolin successfully managed the mammoth $5,150,000 sale of 67 Telegraph Road (above), hundreds of thousands over its reserve price.

“We’re experiencing real confidence in the market and we’ve seen between 8-10 per cent market growth in the last 10 weeks, with a majority of homes selling above expectations,” Mr Bolin said.

“With low interest rates and the banks lending money again, the confidence is flowing, and we’re seeing people wanting to get deals done before the festive period.

“The overseas buyer inspected the property for the first time today, just 10 minutes before the auction, and they fought off competition from five other registered bidders to secure the home.

“Originally designed by architect Dr Epstein back in the 1950s, the property was extensively remodelled in 1998 in-keeping with its original form, and is the ultimate entertainer property.”

Pymble was having its Christmas cake and eating it too, as Ray White Upper North Shore Sales Agents Rowan Lazar and Graeme Schultz sold 14 Lawley Crescent (above), for $3,050,000.

“There was a huge amount of interest in this property with 47 people coming through the opens and 15 contracts issued throughout an incredibly active campaign,” Mr Lazar said.

“The guide price was $2.6-$2.8M so that proves if you can hold your nerve and get to auction, you’ll get the best price. This home would've sold for hundreds of thousands less if it sold prior.

“The market here is really strong, and because of low stock numbers, as soon as a property comes to the market it’s getting a huge amount of interest from buyers ready to buy.

“A local family snapped this one up, and it was their daughter - who you could say was the Christmas elf of the day - who fell in love with the property, she’s already picked her bedroom out.”

And the success continued in Normanhurst, where Ray White Cherrybrook I Thornleigh I West Pennant Hills Directors Dion Verzeletti and Nathan Leuzzi sold 28 Redgrave Road (above) for $1,480,000, $155,000 over the reserve.

“We brought the auction for this property forward by a week because of the interest we had - we had more than 70 groups through and 16 contracts issued in just over two weeks,” Mr Verzeletti said.

“Auction really is the best way to sell your property. We had eight offers prior, the highest being $1,300,000, and the heat of battle under the hammer meant the vendors got $180,000 more.

“The market here is really active in the lead up to Christmas, with our office selling more than half of our auction campaign properties prior to auction day.

“This particular home was an original 1950's double red brick property and was purchased by an Australian couple from Turramurra.”

Ray White Vic/Tas Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon said it was great to see buyer confidence and momentum continue as Christmas closed in.

"Preliminary data shows this week has had a slight increase in the average amount of active bidders per auction," Mr Condon said.

"We noticed a trend today of bidders holding back, and waiting for the property to be announced as on the market, then beyond that we saw aggressive competition."

And it was Forest Hill that had the highest preliminary auction sale of the day for Victoria as Ray White Manningham Senior Sales Executive Diana Dai and Sales Agent Ryan Faridi managed the $1,860,000 sale of 62 Lee Ann Street.

"Unbelievably, the bidders we expected on the day never materialised, but the eventual buyer only turned up on the day and ended up being the lucky winning bidder," Ms Dai said.

"The market here is great, and the property is only eight months old, so it really appealed. It has everything, It's spacious, next to a park and close to schools. The vendor is very happy."

And over in Brunswick, all the Christmas's came at once for the vendor of 12 Bank Street (above) as Ray White Glenroy Sales Agent Michael Pace and Principal Mete Karan successfully managed the $1,625,000 sale of the property, a massive $325,000 over reserve.

“The market is looking very positive in our area with data showing more than 25 people coming through open homes for every property we have on the market,” Mr Pace said.

“I think December and January are very underrated months when it comes to buyers and sellers - we have stats showing our properties are viewed most across the festive season.

“This particular property attracted a lot of attention, mainly because of its location, with Brunswick recently listed as one of the top 10 most in-demand suburbs in Melbourne to live in.

“The home also offered a driveway which is unusual for the area and the Victorian couple that bought the property also loved the size that offered more open living space than usual.”

Ray White QLD Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom said it had been a great day in the Sunshine State with the clearance rate looking particularly healthy.

"If we look at the results, we saw really good competition throughout the day, with 2.4 bidders actively bidding and four bidders registering per auction, on average.

"We saw bigger crowds today, and we're noticing a lot of sellers making the decision to come to market after Christmas, so we're expecting an influx of stock in early 2020."

And Santa delivered a suburb record to Kedron as Ray White Wilston Principal Alistair Macmillan and Sales Associate Sam Hagen sold 47 Thirteenth Avenue (above) for $1,720,000.

“This was a ripper of an auction and the final sale price reflected a new suburb record for Kedron - beating the previous record by more than $50,000,” Mr Macmillan said.

“The market for us is awesome right now - we had over 150 groups through during the opens - and the buyers were a couple from Sydney who had been flying up to find their dream home.

“The property is a brand-new build, with open living space that is truly big enough for a five-bedroom home, which is not always the case.

“The grounds are very attractive and it includes a great pool and still more outside space for easy living - the close proximity to great schools was also a real drawcard.”

It was all about glorious Brisbane River views as Ray White New Farm Sales Manager Nicholas Given and Sales Associate Brandon Mein sold 13/202 Bowen Terrace (above) for $1,525,000.

"It's no surprise we had more than 100 people through the open homes as this property benefited from original timber flooring and unbelievable styling that worked so well," Mr Given said.

"The renovation was outstanding and the views are to die for. Bidding started at $1,000,000 and competition between the eight registered bidders drove the price up to the final sale figure."

Ray White SA Chief Auctioneer John Morris said throughout November there were 168 auctions scheduled, with a 52.1 per cent auction day clearance rate.

"This was six and a half percent up on November last year and we held almost 26 per cent of the auction listing share throughout the month," Mr Morris said.

"This week, we have 35 auctions scheduled, and it's not looking like it's going to slow down in the weeks running up to Christmas."

And that sleigh-like speed was felt in Northfield, where Ray White Norwood Sales Executives Jayden Kennedy and Tristian Kennedy managed the $546,000 sale of 3 Leeds Avenue, that was $56,000 over the reserve price.

"We actually only had 17 people through the opens, but such was the management of the auction campaign, we had a massive 21 registered bidders turn out on the day," Mr Jayden Kennedy said.

"We stuck by our no-price auction principals and it paid off for the vendor. The buyer plans on sub-dividing the plot - then live in one of the new-builds - while renting out the other."