Insatiable buyer demand fuels auction market

INSATIABLE buyer demand continues to fuel the competitive auction market which has helped to propel the national clearance rate to new highs.

Despite the latest lockdown in Melbourne, Ray White members who are highly experienced at conducting online auctions from their spare bedrooms and lounge rooms, today cleared a staggering 94 per cent of the 89 auctions booked in the Victorian capital today.

According to Ray White data, total listings on the market nationally remain six per cent lower compared to a year ago but auction volumes are seven per cent higher compared to this time in 2020. Over the week, the leading group had 351 auctions booked nationally, with 231 of those on Saturday alone.

Today’s auctions continued to produce stellar results for sellers as the Ray White Group recorded of 83 per cent national clearance rate with a whooping eight registered bidders on average per lot across the country.

Despite the rainy weather in Sydney, buyers were out in force today looking and ready to bid.

Ray White New South Wales Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said family homes continued to be the strongest performing asset in the market across the state.

“Families are going above and beyond their initial price indications to obtain their dream home,” Mr Pattaro said.

“The prestige market around the $5-$12m price range is booming in a way that we haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.

“We are expecting an influx of stock throughout the tail end of February and March, with buyers and sellers cashing in before the Easter break. It is a great time to transact.”

The biggest sale of the day nationally was at the stunning four bedroom family home with harbour views to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at 41C New South Head Rd, Vaucluse which sold under the hammer for $6,355,000, well above its reserve price after seven registered bidders fought it out.

Ray White Double Bay Managing Director Elliott Placks and Sales Agent James Ledgerwood said 90 groups had viewed the property throughout its extremely successful auction campaign.

“This is a desirable, aspirational family home, and has a priceless view of Sydney Harbour. It is also very close to some of the city's best schools, making for a very successful campaign,” Mr Placks said.

“Our vendors were downsizing after owning it for 34 years, and the buyers are a young family looking for their forever home, making it a lovely transitional story.”

The most talked about auction of the weekend was this old Californian bungalow style home at 13 Birrellea Ave, Earlwood which sold with no reserve. Intense bidding among the 40 registered bidders saw the home sell under the hammer for $1,510,000. The home was marketed by Ray White Earlwood principal Dean Vasil and Sales Executive Kieran Gianoudis.

“The vibe and energy at this auction was like nothing I have ever seen before. The bidding started at $1, yes one single dollar, ” Mr Vasil said.

Mr Vasil said the vendors trusted the auction process so deeply, that they showed the ultimate commitment by having no reserve price set.

“The price feedback prior to the auction was around $1.1 million, so you can imagine how thrilled the vendors were with the result,” he said.

“We had a real mixed bag of buyers with this one, many who were just trying their luck and they did participate, until things started getting serious towards the end.”

Mr Vasil then went on to have another huge sale at 21 Gornall Avenue Earlwood for $1,875,000, smashing the reserve price of $1,600,000.

“We had over 450 email enquiries on this property which is a clear indication of how many buyers are out there looking at the moment,” Mr Vasil said.

In Sydney’s leafy upper north shore, prices continued to skyrocket due to the massive buyer demand. A clear indication of this demand was at the auction of 48 Carrington Road, Wahroonga which sold for $2,780,000, a staggering $480,000 over its reserve price.

Ray White Upper North Shore principal David Walker said the campaign saw 120 groups through and attracted 15 registered bidders on the day.

“Demand for good real estate in a good location will always be there, especially in a market like this,” Mr Walker said.

“There is an abundance of discerning buyers out there who can appreciate good real estate and want to get into this area of Sydney.”

The seller who had owned the home as an investment for 20 years, couldn’t believe the astonishing result. The buyers were a young couple who planned to knock down and rebuild on the 1290sqm block.

After news broke of a hard Melbourne lockdown on Friday afternoon, the state’s network of real estate agents and auctioneers made a swift change of plans on very short notice.

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens said the strong results from today’s auctions was testament to the agents and vendors who were nimble and quickly adapted at the last minute.

“We are thrilled with the strong results today. Our buyers have not missed a beat and they have carried on very much business as usual,” Mr Dullens said.

“It is advantageous to be part of the country’s biggest real estate group, we have the technology and the people. We converted almost all of our auctions to online overnight.”

“Conditions are still so strong, and those who went ahead with their auctions today really reaped the rewards.”

Mr Dullens said the agents across Melbourne really feel privileged they were still able to help the community transact.

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Matt Condon said it was exciting to be able to report that the lockdown has not appeared to have any effect on today’s results.

“In fact this week’s results are the strongest we have seen all year. We have seen an increase in both registered and active bidders as well as our overall clearance rate,” Mr Condon said.

The lockdown couldn’t stop 32 registered bidders slogging in to fight it out for this impressive family home at 11 Kentwood Road in Macleod, with the hammer finally falling at $1,160,000, smashing the reserve of $970,000.

A total of 53 people watched the auction online, with many first home buyers, young families and upgrades in the mix, looking to buy a slice of Macleod.

Ray White Macleod sales agent Brett Schembri said they were eager to push forward with today's auction and convert it to online because of the huge momentum they had built through the campaign with a whopping 228 inspections.

“We have been here before; we know the method works and we have all the tools in place to quickly adapt,” Mr Schembri said.

“Based on our team’s recommendations, the vendors Kaine and Sarah were very comfortable to move forward with the online auction.”

After the hammer went down, the underbidders chimed in on the online auction chat function to send their well wishes to the lucky buyers.

In Melbourne’s South East, Ray White Rowville sales manager Nick Strilakos had a handful of excellent sales under the hammer, with the standout being 2/1267 Stud Road Rowville.

The home sold for $742,500 after 11 registered bidders pushed it far up and above the reserve price of $660,000.

“I put the success of this auction down to exceptional marketing, particularly on social media, as well as a lot of prospecting to first home buyers, downsizers and investors” Mr Strilakos said.

The vendors, Anthony and Laura said they were beyond thrilled with the result and glad that they went ahead with the auction in an online format.

“After Daniel Andrews did his press conference, we spoke to Nick straight away and he gave us every confidence to go through with the auction. He mentioned Ray White had done it a lot before, they are old hands!” Laura said.

“I actually think it did better than what could have happened onsite. It started raining as the auction was about to begin, which was a bit of a sign!”

“Absolutely thrilled with the service from Ray White. We had every confidence going into what would normally be an uncertain time,” she said.

In the Sunshine State, Ray White Queensland Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom said the clearance rate remained strong heading into the February selling season.

“This week, we have seen remarkable results and record sale prices. We are seeing the greatest results coming from auction campaigns, exceeding the offers prior,” Mr Peereboom said.

“When it comes to auctions, the market is certainly willing and ready to pay.”

The inner northern pocket of Brisbane in particular was very strong, with this four bedroom two-storey Queenslander on 700sqm at 48 Jack Street Gordon Park selling under the hammer for $1,306,000, some $156,000 above the reserve price.

Ray White Wilston sales and marketing agent Holly Bowden said when bidding started at $1,200,000, many of the 13 registered bidders were knocked out and it became “neck and neck between two fierce bidders”.

Brisbane’s smallest suburb Gordon Park just 6kms from the CBD is extremely tightly held, so Ms Bowden knew it would be the perfect property to take to auction.

“Gordon Park is so popular, particularly because of access to the Kedron Brook which many of my clients loved having access to during COVID,” Ms Bowden said.

“The market is absolutely on fire; we had our in-room auctions on Thursday night and we sold all of them; I sold a home in the next street over which had 11 bidders,” she said.

The winning bidder was none other than Ray White New Farm sales agent Nicholas Given, who has been searching for his families forever home for the past six months.

“My heart rate has never been so high! Especially when I saw the massive crowd who showed up to the auction today,” Mr Given said.

Mr Given said he liked the fact this home was being sold by auction, although it was a nerve wracking experience.

“As an agent myself, I love auctions because it is not a blind negotiation and you can see your competition. When I was bidding, I could picture my family living here and certainly had already developed an emotional attachment,” he said.

“We really love this area, and it's a fantastic block and the perfect family home for my wife and children. We will be celebrating with a glass of Pinot tonight!” he said.

Around the corner at 18 Lincoln St, Wilston, Ray White Ascot agent Ian Cuneo successfully sold the renovated Queenslander for $1,410,000, with 15 registered bidders ranging from couples and young families to empty nesters.

“This home has a universal appeal to all sorts of buyers; there is and always will be incredibly strong demand for homes like these,” Mr Cuneo said.

“Both the buyers and sellers are thrilled with today's result and we wish them well on their next steps,” he said.

In South Australia, Ray White Chief Auctioneer John Morris said the market in Adelaide and its surrounds continues to run hot and there was no doubt the same will continue in the coming weeks.

“Local supplies of sold stickers are running dangerously low as Ray White continues to outstrip our competition across all metrics, whether it be market share or clearance rates,” Mr Morris said.

“Ray White has held 35 per cent of auctions across the state this week. Going into the weekend, we were sitting on an 80 per cent clearance rate with 5.5 average registered bidders,” he said.

Ray White Norwood sales executive Mannus Chan had two back to back auctions today, both yielding great results for both buyers and sellers.

The contemporary townhouse at 135 Gilbert St, Adelaide sold for $585,000 as four registered bidders fought it out until the hammer dropped.

Not long after, Mr Chan successfully sold 1 View Court Happy Valley, for $515,000 and had nine registered bidders.

“Our buyers and sellers are all really happy with today’s results. The market feedback we had for Happy Valley was around the $480,000 mark, so we are very pleased that we took it to auction,” Mr Chan said.

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