Spring is in the air at Ray White auctions

One of those properties belonged to Rita and John, who were selling their first home at 16 Bellavista Avenue, Clapham after 10 years.

“Our little boy took his first steps there and we established gardens there,” Rita said.

“It was our family home for 10 years and we had lots of good experiences.

“Now we have relocated to Victor Harbor to start the next chapter in our journey.”

The property was marketed by Ray White Burnside’s Brandon Pilgrim and Ilana Sanzo, and sold under the hammer for $1.41 million.

“We were interstate and away during the campaign and we left everything in Brandon’s hands. It was so stress free and his communication throughout the whole process was amazing,” Rita said.

“We wanted to go to auction from the beginning, we were keen on the auction process, we wanted a quick sale as we had already moved, and the unconditional sale of the auction process was appealing to us as well.

“Brandon and his team took all the stress away from the process, and the result really exceeded our expectations.”

Ray White recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 81.1 per cent across Australia, with an average of 4.7 registered bidders and 3.1 active bidders per auction.

The top auction result for the day was marketed by Ray White Unlimited agents Ron Bauer and Madison Watt who sold 49 Willoughby Street, Kirribilli, under the hammer for $4.12 million. The auction recorded four registered bidders and two active bidders.

The auction with the highest number of registered bidders went to Ray White Adelaide City agents Marco Lai and Sumit Khatri who recorded 18 registered bidders and six active bidders at their 7 Albert Street, Kilburn auction. The property sold under the hammer for $1.451 million.

According to NurtureCloud, Ray White conducted 6,695 open homes across the country today, with 29,675 attendees. The open home with the most attendees was at 2/54 Sargent Parade, Bellevue Heights, which saw 77 attendees through its open home. The property is being marketed by Ray White Unley’s Robbie Smith and Ellie Draper.

SYDNEY

Ray White NSW head of auctions David McMahon said auction volumes were on the rise in the lead up to spring.

“Today was our highest volume of scheduled auctions for the new financial year, sitting at 145, although properties that were sold prior to auction rose to 23 per cent,” Mr McMahon said.

“With the recent updates of the First Homebuyer scheme we were anticipating competitive bidding in the sub-$1.5 million range but, in fact, we experienced competitive bidding across all price points today.

“Our bidder numbers returned to a healthy average of 5.8 registered and 3.3 active per auction which resulted in some exceptional sales today.”

25 Castlereagh Street, Penrith

• Sold under the hammer for $3.99 million

• Seven bidders

• Lead agent: Peter Diamantidis - 0404 051 702

• Ray White United Group

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

Bidding opened at $3.4 million.

6 Kinsella Street, Illawong

• Sold for under the hammer for $3.231 million

• Eight registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Gavin Ottaway - 0415 677 440

• Ray White Sutherland Shire

• Auctioneer: David McMahon, Ray White

The buyers were a local family who lived down the street and were upsizing.

The sellers, Graham and his wife Min had been in the home 14 years before deciding to move down the coast for a seachange.

“We loved the privacy and the view. It was also a substantial brick house and in a great area with great neighbours,” Graham said.

“We had purchased via auction before, but this was our first time selling. We would recommend auctions, we were very happy with the result.

“We have used Gavin to sell a property for us previously, 14 years ago. We got a great result the first time and an even better result the second time. Gavin and Jo did a fantastic job.”

61 Edgar Street, Auburn

• Sold under the hammer for $1.735 million

• 11 registered bidders, six active

• Lead agent: Sezer Yunus - 0431 264 472

• Ray White Auburn

• Auctioneer: Bryce Bevan, Ray White

The home has been in the sellers’ family since 1968. Three siblings were selling the home.

“It was brand new when we moved in, I was only eight years old when we moved in,” one of the sellers, Paul (pictured above, centre-right, with the buyers and agents), said.

“I had very happy family memories there, so it was a bittersweet sale but we are very happy with the result.

“This was my first auction I had ever attended. It was quite exciting and nervewracking. I was on the phone to my sister and she was getting excited when it got to $1.5 million, and Bryce had only just started the auction!

“What Sezer said from day one was exactly what he did, we just gave him the keys and he did it all. Nothing was too hard for him.”

23 Edison Street, Belmore

• Sold under the hammer for $2.345 million

• Eight registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Mourad Garabedian - 0403 725 775

• Ray White Belmore

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

Bidding opened at $1.8 million

“A prominent local investor went head to head with a family of owner occupiers to land the winning bid,” Mr Garabedian said.

“It completely exceeded expectations.

“It’s a classic home, built about 60 years ago. It was a solid home which was very well maintained.

“The sellers were selling on behalf of their parents who had owned the home for 54 years.”

7 Major Street, Punchbowl

• Sold under the hammer for $1.75 million

• Six registered bidders

• Lead agent: John Yatman - 0423 344 868

• Ray White Punchbowl

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

MELBOURNE

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said despite the wet weather, Melbourne’s auction market was heating up.

“Wild weather lashed the state this weekend as a reminder that winter isn’t quite finished. However, with spring on our doorstep, the real estate market is heating up as volume builds with 238 auctions scheduled for the Ray White network across Victoria this week,” he said.

“While still down by more than 15 per cent year-on-year, market volume has significantly increased over the past few weeks and is expected to continue to grow.

“At a 10am auction at 10 Alfred Place, Frankston, it was a case of the ‘early bird gets the worm’ (or property), with strong interest both online and on-site for the renovated three bedroom home with development potential.

“Frankston, now dubbed the number one suburb hotspot for potential and growth, saw five bidders actively competing to take the property north of one million dollars to $1.11 million.

“The winning bidder, Luke, saw Frankston as a smart place to park his investment dollars and preferred auction for its transparency.

“There were strong results being reported across the network as the clearance rate for the Ray White network sat at 84.5 per cent for the week, an uptick of more than 25 per cent against the same period last year.”

10 Alfred Place, Frankston

• Sold under the hammer for $1.11 million

• 12 registered, five bidders

• Lead agent: Terry Wheeler - 0417 397 806

• Ray White Frankston

• Auctioneer: Jeremy Tyrrell, Ray White

The winning bid went to an investor, Luke, who said he saw Frankston as an up and coming hot area, and this property was the perfect choice for him. He said it was beautifully renovated and provided the opportunity to subdivide as it was in a corner position with two street frontages.

A seasoned buyer, Luke said he much prefers an auction as he has complete trust in the process: “Everything is transparent and I know just who I need to beat.”

Mr Wheeler said the seller was over the moon with the result.

“The seller used to live in the home, and then they had it as a rental before doing a few renovations ready for sale,” he said.

“Most of our interest was from investors. We had bidders both in person and online, and some of the online bidders were local, but we had interstate bidders from NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.

“The result exceeded both my expectations and the seller’s.”

15 Couper-Angus Grove, Sunshine

• Sold under the hammer for $812,000

• Two bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Marcus Fregonese - 0432 732 495

• Ray White Sunshine

“The bidders were two young couples,” Mr Fregonese said.

“The underbidder was a first home buyer and the couple who landed the winning bid were moving from Yarraville to Sunshine for a bigger block.

“They loved the creek at the end of the street and the native gardens.”

The seller, Kaz, had lived in the home for 17 years and is downsizing.

“I was only the second owner of the home. It was very emotional, it was my first home ever,” Kaz said.

“It’s bittersweet because it’s a beautiful home with a beautiful backyard.

“The process was seamless. I found Marcus a joy to work with, he’s really good at his job and the result exceeded our expectations.”

5/16-18 Stuart Avenue, Cheltenham

• Sold under the hammer for $1.275 million

• Three registered bidders, two active bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Kevin Chokshi - 0430 195 517

• Ray White The Bayside Group

“Bidding started on a vendor bid at $950,000 as there was a bit of hesitation, but then there was aggressive bidding from two downsizers fighting it out,” Mr Chokshi said.

“The sellers are a young family who bought the property and did a big renovation. Now they want to upsize and potentially do another renovation.”

The sellers, Lauren and Oscar, were very happy with the result.

“We lived there for almost six years after buying it as first home buyers,” Lauren said.

“My husband is a builder so we always had the intention to renovate. But after two kids we’re looking to upsize but as close to the same area as possible, we love it here.

“We were a bit nervous about the auction to start with, but Kevin explained everything to us beforehand so there would be no surprises and we had absolute confidence in Kevin. We’re very happy with the result.”

44 Park Lane, Mount Waverley

• Sold under the hammer for $1.735 million

• Three bidders

• Lead agent: Jacob Biviano - 0416 088 586

• Ray White Mount Waverley

• Auctioneer: Courtney Matthews, Ray White

“It was a very emotional sale for the sellers who were selling the home on behalf of their mum who was moving into aged-care,” Mr Biviano said.

“My dad, Michael, actually sold the home to them back in 1994, and now I was appointed to sell it on behalf of the children. They still had some memorabilia in the house, like my dad’s old business card!

“The buyer was a prominent local developer who has done a few projects in the area.”

BRISBANE

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said this weekend already felt like spring at auctions across Brisbane.

“It was a really impressive day in the Brisbane market,” he said.

“It wasn’t unusual to see 15 or more registered bidders on properties.

“It was a highlight to observe that level of energy at auctions across Brisbane.”

6 Gill Street, Holland Park

• Sold under the hammer for $1.8 million

• 11 registered bidders, three active

• Lead agent: Piers Crawford - 0402 909 727

• Ray White Holland Park

• Auctioneer: Phil Parker, Ray White

Bidding opened at $1.7 million.

“Bidders were mostly families and an investor bidding over the phone from Sydney,” Mr Crawford said.

“The winning bid went to a family who intend to move in.

“This location in Holland Park is very sought after, there’s only five properties on the street so it’s nice and quiet.”

The property was being sold by five siblings after their mum, who had lived in the home for 30 years, sadly passed away.

“We are blown away by the result! My mum would be very happy,” one of the sellers, Christopher, said.

“My mum lived here for 30 years. And my sister lived in it for five years before them.

“My wife and I are architects so we did a big extension on the home 30 years ago.

“The street has never been buzzing as much as it was today!

“I've never sold a house, so I was quite apprehensive about going to see real estate agents, but Piers and Rachel have been absolutely magic. It’s been a pleasure working with them.

“They told me this was a house for auction, and I respected what they said, and I said go for it which I’m very glad I did!”

46 Gordon Street, Gordon Park

• Sold under the hammer for $1.27 million

• Seven registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Holly Bowden - 0431 922 110

• Ray White Wilston

• Auctioneer: Josh Logan-Pye, Ray White

The buyers were parents and a son all buying together to help their son get onto the property ladder.

“This is the second time I’ve sold this house. The sellers bought this home under the hammer last time, and they’ve sold it under the hammer this time,” Ms Bowden said.

“It was picture perfect and ready to move into and that’s the market at the moment, people are really looking for turnkey homes.”

The sellers, Cassandra and Troy (pictured above) originally bought the home at the end of 2023.

“We bought the home at auction from Holly when we moved down from the Sunshine Coast,” Cassandra said.

“We’ve done a small renovation, and now we’ve decided to upsize.”

After both buying and selling at auction, Cassandra said she likes the auction method of sale.

“I like that it’s more transparent as to what’s going on, and how many people are interested. Buyers know how much everyone is willing to spend.

“We love Holly, she’s excellent to deal with. We’ve dealt with her on both sides and when we sell our home again we’ll sell through Holly.”

120 Laura Street, Tarragindi

• Sold under the hammer for $1.666 million

• 12 registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Piers Crawford - 0402 909 727

• Ray White Holland Park

• Auctioneer: Gavin Croft, Ray White

Mr Crawford said interest predominantly came from upsizers, renovators, and those wanting to knock down and rebuild.

“The winning bid went to investors who plan to rent the property out in the short-term and then rebuild a home to live in in the future,” he said.

The property had been an investment property for the seller’s mum.

“Piers and his team were fabulous to work with and they gave me a result beyond my expectations,” Dale, the seller, said.

“I think the way the Brisbane market is, selling via auction made the most sense for this property.

“I am based in Sydney but I’m trying to buy in Brisbane at the moment and I find this whole dutch auction process quite frustrating,” she said.

“From a buyer’s perspective I think auctions are a lot fairer in some ways.”

ADELAIDE

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said despite the wild weather, it had been a great week for auctions in South Australia.

“Well, what a week it has been in South Australia. We have been smashed by torrential rain, we’ve had driving winds ripping trees out, but we've also smashed out a preliminary clearance rate of 85 per cent,” Mr Morris said.

“Big numbers, big energy, and big results for our clients. On the floor, we're seeing 6.6 bidders per auction with just over three jumping in to compete. That is serious competition, serious engagement, and serious confidence in the market.

“Buyers are clearly more comfortable purchasing under the hammer with the transparency of auction, giving them the confidence to bid, bid strongly, and bid boldly.

“Now, if we zoom out to August so far, the story is crystal clear - Ray White is sitting at a 78 per cent auction day clearance rate while the rest of the industry is trailing back at 66 per cent. That's not just leading the market, that is owning the market.

“And to top it all off last night, we celebrated the very best of the best at the Ray White South Australia Annual Awards. A massive congratulations to all the winners and finalists.

“You are the reason these numbers shine as bright as they do, as well as the vendors who trust us to take their properties to auction. We gather more bidders, we create more competition and we get better results than that of our competition.”