Auctions no joke

Today’s auctions were no laughing matter as bidders gave it their all on the first weekend of April.

Despite being April Fool’s Day, bidders weren’t joking around with an average of 4.3 registered buyers attending a Ray White auction across the country, while three actively bid.

Meanwhile, the leading group’s clearance rate came in at 70 per cent.

On average, those sellers who sold under the hammer today made an extra 11.15 per cent on top of their sale price than if they had taken a prior offer.

The top auction sale of the day was made by an Indonesian buyer at 97 Bilga Cres, Malabar. Ray White Eastern Beaches’ Nader Hotait and Archibald Wadsworth sold the Malabar property for $4.52 million - $320,000 above reserve.

Today's auction with the most bidders was a three-way tie between Ray White Annerley's Bevin Powell who sold 3 Portsdown St, Salisbury and George Yang of Ray White Rochedale's sale of 3 Horizon Pl, Eight Mile Plains and 94 Tompson Rd, Panania which sold through Joe Pizzolato from Ray White Georges River | St George | Oatley. All three auctions attracted 15 registered bidders.

Ray White New South Wales chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said competition at auctions remained important to ensure a result under the hammer.

“We continue to see a steady increase of registered bidders which is an indication of the confidence of the market. The market remains in a steady position making it a great time to transact,” Mr Pattaro said.

“Sellers should have no fear of coming to market. Now is a great time.”

97 Bilga Cres, Malabar

• Sold for $4.52 million - $320,000 above reserve

• Seven registered and five active bidders

• Agents: Nader Hotait (0402 636 320) and Archibald Wadsworth

• Ray White Eastern Beaches

• Auctioneer: James Hayashi, Ray White

“The buyers were from Indonesia, they travel between there and Sydney a lot so they wanted something quite special with a good aspect,” Mr Hotait said.

“They actually only saw it yesterday, they walked in and fell in love with it. They flew back to Indonesia yesterday and were bidding over the phone today.

“The house was really popular because of its position right on the golf course. It’s a great house, it’s turn key, you can just walk in. It has two levels, five bedrooms and a great position and good floorplan.”

4 Ward Ave, Canterbury

• Sold for $1.706 million

• 11 registered and five active bidders

• Agents: Mario Carbone (0415 457 417) and Jessica Carbone (pictured with the sellers below)

• Ray White Drummoyne

• Auctioneer: Tim Snell, Ray White (pictured above)

“The buyers were a couple who had been looking in the inner west. The last auction they went to was in Newtown but when they saw this one they thought they would venture a few postcodes over to see it and fell in love with it,” Mr Carbone said.

“We had a mix of investors, first home buyers and people looking to upsize from units show interest.

“It’s been completely renovated to a high standard and the location in the area is great so that brought a lot of buyers in. We had well over 100 groups inspect the property throughout the campaign.”

29 Edmund St, Lindfield

• Sold for $3.79 million - $240,000 above reserve

• 10 registered and five active bidders

• Agents: Lisa Davies (0424 001 511) and Jessica Cao

• Ray White Roseville

“We had really good numbers throughout the campaign and lots of interest from buyers,” Ms Davies said.

“The buyer had never seen the house before. He registered 10 minutes before the auction and bought it. Many of the people competing at the auction were young families looking for a nice family home.

“The appeal of the house was that it’s all done and at a popular price point at the moment for the market. It just goes to show that the market is really good for properties that don’t need a lot of work in family friendly areas.”

• Sold for $1.392 million - $42,000 above reserve

• Four registered and two active bidders

• Agents: Dean Vasil (0420 555 965) and Kieran Gianoudis

• Ray White Earlwood

• Auctioneer: Tim Snell, Ray White

“The property was actually sold at auction in August of last year with another agent for $1.37 million but the sale fell through. It just goes to show that there’s a fair bit of activity out there and to have that level of activity versus what they got in August shows the market has come back strong,” Mr Vasil said.

“We tweaked the marketing a bit and presented it really well. We had 59 groups come through this time and from my understanding that was higher than the number of people who went through when it was previously for sale in August.

“The buyers were a young couple with two kids who were looking to get into the Earlwood market. It’s a great entry level property in a suburb that’s still good value.”

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said Australia's most liveable city was back in full swing as Melbourne hosts a number of key international events this week including the Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park.

“Not wanting to be left out of the action, the real estate market also revved up as we recorded our highest volume of auctions so far this year with 235 scheduled for the week,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“Buyers were also out in force as strong competition was reported across a number of auctions, with the preliminary clearance rate at 67.4 per cent and 2.4 active bidders on average across all auctions.

“With much debate and speculation about Tuesday’s cash rate announcement, there is plenty to get excited about as the inflation rate is shifting downwards and buyers remain active and competitive in the pursuit of home ownership.”

41 Nicholson St, Balwyn North

• Sold for $2.29 million - $40,000 above reserve

• Four registered and active bidders

• Agents: Brad Cooper (0418 344 733) and Ray Tian

• Ray White Balwyn

• Auctioneer: Brad Cooper

“We received a lot of interest during the campaign and it was a competitive auction,” Mr Cooper (pictured above) said.

“The home is in a really good location on a nice block of land that’s close to some good schools and local parks.

“The buyer wants to knock the house down and build a new family home on the block.”

16 Village Ave, Doncaster

• Sold for $1.63 million - $430,000 above reserve

• Nine registered and five active bidders

• Agents: Harry Lai (0402 638 076) and Charlotte Quarmby

• Ray White Manningham

• Auctioneer: Jeremy Tyrrell, Ray White (pictured above)

“It’s just an honest, humble home that’s been in the family for a while,” Mr Lai said.

“It was a developer who bought it, they are either going to put one or two homes on the block.

“It’s in a good location on a nice flat block and close to the local shops and school.

“The majority of interested buyers were developers and builders but there were also a few buyers looking to renovate and move in.”

56 Helen Rd, Ferntree Gully

• Sold for $910,500 - $90,500 above reserve

• Seven active bidders

• Agents: Angela Xia (0435 757 849) and Cristine Jones

• Ray White Ferntree Gully

• Auctioneer: Jeremy Tyrrell, Ray White (pictured above)

“The buyer had already missed out on a few properties in Ferntree Gully, he was looking for an investment property but in the future he wants to move his parents into the home,” Ms Xia said.

“Most of the interested buyers were couples with kids. The house has a really good backyard so it’s great for kids wanting to run around and it also has a cubby house for them to play in.”

1/22 Follett Rd, Cheltenham

• Sold for $791,000 - $71,000 above reserve

• 11 registered bidders and six active bidders

• Agents: Trevor Bowen (0417 501 327) and Andrew Ferraro

• Ray White Cheltenham

“There were something like 140 people in the crowd. Because it’s in the golden triangle in Cheltenham a lot of people came along,” Mr Bowen said.

“The buyer was a woman looking to downsize into the area. Her son is a tradie and came along to help her bid (pictured above).

“The location is great, it’s been fully renovated with lots of land on title including the car space in the driveway and it’s close to the local shops.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said he’s seeing good resilience in the auction market amid upwards pressure on rent.

“There's been an increasing number of buyers in Brisbane that have noticeably turned their attention to the apartment and townhouse market which represents affordable property in lifestyle suburbs such as the Brisbane CBD, West End and Newstead,” Mr Croft said.

“It's those areas there that have really jumped off the page and been highlighted, as well as those more affordable suburbs such as Logan, where there's still those good amenities close by.

“It’s been really evident that there's been a strong appetite to secure townhouses and apartments at auction in those areas. There’s been a major shift over the last couple of weeks with deep numbers of registrations, strong bidding and a real appetite due to the affordability.”

30 Dover St, Wilston

• Sold for $2.025 million

• Five registered and three active bidders

• Agents: Alistair Macmillan (0410 636 221) and Sam Hagen

• Ray White Wilston

• Auctioneer: Phil Parker, Ray White

“The challenge with this home is that it requires a full scale renovation. It’s an amazing original Queensland in desperate need of a renovation,” Mr Macmillan said.

“The sellers actually bought it with plans to do a big renovation but they changed their mind which isn’t uncommon in the current climate.

“Most of the interested buyers were locals looking at this as their principal place of residence. It’s positioned in one of the best spots in Wilston.

“It was bought by a local developer, they’re going to do a huge renovation on the house.”

269 Banks Street, Ashgrove

• Sold for $930,000

• Six registered bidders

• Agent: Tamara Lee - 0421 767 034

• Ray White Ashgrove

• Auctioneer: Adam Downes, Ray White

“The sellers were three siblings (pictured above) selling their late mother’s home. It’s been in the family since 1952,” Ms Lee said.

“The buyers (pictured below) were actually the parents of a local family, they wanted to move to be closer to them.

“The land size and possibility of removing the dwelling made the home popular. We had a lot of first home buyers coming through who were trying to get into the Ashgrove market. There were a few builders but not many.”

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said with the start of the month and a new quarter, comes a fresh perspective.

“As we look back on what was March, it was an incredible month yet again in real estate and an incredible month for auctions within the Ray White White Group,” Mr Morris said

“There is a lot of fear in the market at the moment and a lot of agents telling me that they're going up against the competition who are bagging auctions, saying the auction method doesn't work in this changing market.

“What I'm seeing is above six registered bidders per auction. What I'm seeing is 73.5 per cent sold on auction day this week. Ray White South Australia has an 86.4 per cent preliminary clearance rate running into Saturday.

“So those that are saying auctions don't work and we shouldn't be taking properties to auction are taking away the only certainty that a seller has for selling their property and that is the certainty of an auction contract.”

28A Fletcher Rd, Henley Beach

• Sold for $2.26 million - $210,000 above reserve

• Two registered and active bidders

• Agents: Anthony Fahey (0428 641 404) and Samuel Parsons

• Ray White Henley Beach

“The buyers were locals from Adelaide while the underbidders were from the Yorke Peninsula looking for a city pad. It was really hotly contested between the two of them,” Mr Fahey said.

“It’s just a big, majestic home with high ceilings and great open plan living. It also overlooked the reserve which was a big selling point.

“It had a lot of limestone and timber go into the construction. It has a really architectural design and a lot of wow about it.”

35 Hurtle St, West Croydon

• Sold for $1.36 million

• Six registered and five active bidders

• Agent: Peter Kiritsis (0411 501 520)

• Ray White Woodville

“We had over 140 groups attend the open homes during the campaign,” Mr Kirisis said.

“All of the bidders were young families, so it was nice to see all the mums and dads with small children. The buyers (pictured above) had been bidding at other auctions we’ve had over the last three months and kept missing out so it’s good to see them buy something.

“Character homes that are renovated are attracting huge demand and people are prepared to pay a premium because they know unrenovated homes are almost cost prohibitive with all the time and building delays, it’s not feasible to buy and renovate at the moment.”

11 Royal Ave, Burnside (pictured above)

• Sold for $1.197 million - $97,000 above reserve

• Five registered and four active bidders

• Agents: Brandon Pilgrim (0438 807 061) and Damien Fong

• Ray White Norwood

• Auctioneer: George Kargiotis, Ray White

“It’s an emotional sale for the seller because he’s been there for a long time,” Mr Pilgrim said.

“The buyers were a family who moved from Queensland. They’ve been renting in Adelaide for the last six months and have finally bought something. We had some competitive bidding. Two bidders really fought it out at the end. The location was a big drawcard, in particular because of the school zone it sits within. It’s a good allotment of land on a prestigious street in Burnside.”