Strong clearance amid rate rises

Buyers and sellers are still winning on auction day, with a healthy level of bidding activity around the country.

Australasia’s largest real estate group reported a preliminary clearance rate of 73 per cent nationally today, with the standout city of Melbourne clearing 81 per cent of properties. Ray White had 231 properties booked to go under the hammer nationally today.

Buyers are still eager to get their foot in the door with their next property move. Bidder numbers were noticeably high today, with 5.2 registered bidders per auction, and 3.2 of those actively participating in bidding.

On average, buyers who took their property all the way through to auction day today achieved 15 per cent higher than if they had accepted the highest offer prior.

The highest sale of the day was of 98 Turriell Point Road, Port Hacking for $3.675 million, showing that the Sydney prestige market is well and truly performing.

SYDNEY

Ray White New South Wales chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said that there was positive market action across the harbour city this week, despite the ninth rise in interest rates.

“Buyers are still eager to secure a home or investment and have already factored in current and future rate rises in their decision making and spending ability,” Mr Pattaro said.

“Sellers should capitalise on the strong bidding activity, as we sense a stock wave could be on its way.”

98 Turriell Point Road, Port Hacking (pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $3.675 million ($25,000 over reserve)

• Seven registered bidders, three active

• Lead agent: Alex Pitsis - 0410 403 704

• Alex Pitsis Group - Ray White Cronulla

The highest sale of the day was for this luxurious family residence in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Lead agent Alex Pitsis said the presentation of this property was immaculate.

“Through the marketing campaign we really tried hard to target the right buyer groups through a combination of internet listings, local area marketing, and social media,”

“Our main target demographic were people who live locally,” he said.

The winning buyer came from the Eastern Suburbs and after planning extensive renovation work on their current house, they decided to buy something complete instead.

“The sellers have found a new house locally, and are now getting more of a waterfront lifestyle. Most of our sellers at the moment are people upgrading,” Mr Pitsis said.

“Reaching and exceeding reserves at this price point is a sign of the current market strength in prestige property.”

10 Holt St, Newtown (seller pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $1,625,000 ($125,000 above reserve)

• 12 registered bidders, three active

• Lead agent: Ercan Ersan - 0423 941 112

• Ray White Surry Hills

• Auctioneer: James Keenan, Ray White

Mr Ersan said the sellers of this beautifully presented terrace home were absolutely over the moon with the final result.

“The sellers are investors based in Rose Bay and are offloading to renovate their primary residence,” he said.

“The buyers were a young first home buyer couple; he is based in Sydney, and she is moving down from Brisbane.”

Mr Ersan said the bidding started at a healthy $1.4 million and the second bid was a huge $1.57 million which knocked out most bidders.

“This result indicates that we are still in a great, normal market; the last few years have just been extraordinary so we have returned to some normalcy,” he said.

102 The Avenue, Hurstville (pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $2.426 million ($176,000 above reserve)

• 19 registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Michael Curtis - 0405 680 919

• Ray White Hurstville

Selling agent Michael Curtis said the energy at the auction was incredible, with around 100 people turning up to watch the action unfold.

“This was an investment property for the seller which he was offloading, and in the end the winning bidder was also an investor who will look at developing in future,” he said.

“The underbidder was actually the next door neighbour who was looking to keep it as it is.”

Mr Curtis said that as long as the vendors were willing and motivated to sell, they would achieve a great result for the current market conditions.

“We had a huge finish to last year and while stock is tight this year, we are seeing positive signs,” he said.

MELBOURNE

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said while it could be argued that the ninth consecutive interest rate rise had dampened the real estate market, a declining supply of property and a healthy level of buyer demand has seen some outstanding auction activity.

“Quality of the property, matched with presentation, location and fair seller expectations, appears to be the winning formula in an otherwise challenging market, with auctions continuing to deliver strong, competitive results,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“For the Victoria and Tasmania network there were 126 auctions scheduled (14 fewer than last week) with a preliminary clearance rate of 65 per cent.

“Buyers attending auctions were marginally lower at 4 on average, with 2.6 actively bidding, however as 85 per cent of auctions received bids and 65 per cent sold this week, it shows that buyers remain active with the seller in control of the outcome,” he said.

1/11 Boyne Street, Rowville (sellers pictured above)

• Sold for $800,000 ($140,000 above reserve)

• Six bidders

• Lead agent: Nick Strilakos - 0403 510 712

• Ray White Oakleigh

• Auctioneer: Matt Condon, Ray White

Selling agent Nick Strilakos said that the way he filtered the property through his large database and network way key to auction success.

“Because it was a single level, it attracted first home buyers, downsizers and investors. It was a whole mixed bag of buyers,” he said.

“The winning buyers were a brother and sister who teamed up as first home buyers. They finally won after missing out on auctions for quite some time.”

The sellers were a young couple with a newborn. They are now looking at building their dream family home.

16 Johnson Crt, Roxburgh Park (sellers pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $900,000 ($80,000 above reserve)

• 15 bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Daniel Diamantopoulos - 0412 102 744

• Ray White Craigieburn

The marathon auction for this family home lasted 55 minutes, with Mr Diamantopoulos having to remove his tie mid auction in the sweltering Melbourne heat.

“We had our work cut out for us with this auction, with it ending in $50 bids! I have never seen anything quite like it before,” he said.

The sellers purchased the home in 2016 and are now downsizing to Ringwood to be closer to their children.

“It was an emotional sale for them but they are thrilled about the brilliant result.”

The purchase was a local gentleman who will live in the home.

34 Jubilee Street, Mount Waverley (sellers and buyers pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $1.7 million ($220,000 above reserve)

• Five bidders

• Lead agent: Shaun Perumal - 0426 265 400

• Ray White Forest Hill

• Auctioneer: Aaron McDonald, Ray White

Selling agent Shaun Perumal said he is sensing buyer confidence despite interest rate rises, and that prices are being driven up by a lack of stock.

“We are still seeing phenomenal results above reserve week after week,” he said.

Mr Perumal said the sellers were thrilled, and will be downsizing closer to their children.

“The winning bidders were a young family who were eventually wanting to knock it down and build their own house,” he said.

5 Acacia Cl, Meadow Heights (pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $700,500

• Nine bidders

• Lead agent: Grant O’Brien - 0435 405 942

• Ray White Glenroy

• Auctioneer: Ziya Koksal, Ray White

Principal of Ray White Glenroy Ziya Koksal said this sale was a special one for him, as he was donating all the office proceeds to assist with recovery efforts in Turkey after the recent earthquake.

“I have a lot of family over in Turkey and very fortunately they were not affected, however they have been assisting with the search and rescue efforts which has been very harrowing to hear about,” he said.

“We’re donating the proceeds to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and we know that this money will be greatly appreciated.”

The winning bidder of the family home was a young couple with a toddler. The sellers had subdivided and built this one; they live next door.

BRISBANE

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said that the low stock levels are playing a key role in determining the market at the moment.

“In the 48 hours proceeding into Saturday, I conducted 15 auctions and sold 14 of them under the hammer. This gives you a really good indication of the market in South East Queensland at the moment,” Mr Croft said.

“My sense is that this will definitely continue in the coming weeks. If sellers are aligned with the market, they will certainly see the best of it,” he said.

“The sellers who are coming to market right now are really being rewarded.”

Mr Croft said his highlight auction of the day was at 33 Illinois Street, Sunnybank Hills which sold for $1,175,000 and attracted a huge 18 registered bidders.

45a Barlow Street, Clayfield (buyers pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $1,325,000 ($125,000 above reserve)

• Six registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Oliver Jonker - 0431 708 697

• Ray White Ascot

• Auctioneer: David Treloar, Ray White

Mr Jonker said the sellers were thrilled with the result; they were the original owners and were moving a bit further out of the city to have more land for animals.

“We had 71 groups and this home really appealed to everyone; investors, downsizers and first home buyers,” Mr Jonker said.

The winning bidders were a professional couple.

“We had four offers prior to auction; but I am thrilled we took it all the way through to auction day as the sale price exceeded the buyer’s original offer by $200,000,” he said.

Mr Jonker said that despite interest rate rises, buyers do not seem to be shying away from bidding on quality homes.

“Finished products are achieving fantastic results. It is important to keep a property well maintained, and to give a touch up before sale.”

36 The Village Ave, Coopers Plains (sellers pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $955,000 ($75,000 above reserve)

• 11 registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Bevin Powell - 0405 650 609

• Ray White Annerley

Mr Powell, one of the area's most active auction agents, said the recent results were some of the strongest he’d seen in the past nine months.

“There is a strength in the market; the neater and tidier the home, the more interest you will achieve regardless of price bracket,” Mr Powell said.

“Auction is the best method of sale and today is an example of that. Our best offer prior for this property was $810,000,” he said.

Mr Powell said the retired sellers were ecstatic. They built the home themselves 30 years ago. The buyers were a young family who had missed out on another property just before Christmas, with kids at the local school.

ADELAIDE

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said February started with a bang, with more than 80 per cent of Ray White auctions selling, thanks to the strength in bidder numbers.

“There were an average of seven registered bidders per auction in Adelaide last weekend and I believe this number will be eclipsed by today’s bidder numbers. The state is awash with a sea of yellow flags dominating the auction space, with at least 40 of all auctions throughout the state branded with Ray White, the true competition creators,” Mr Morris said.

1-4/103 Spring Street, Queenstown (buyer pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $1.28 million ($180,000 above reserve)

• 15 registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Nick Psarros - 0400 506 555

• Ray White Port Adelaide

This block of four units was a hit with investors and developers looking to add value. Mr Psarros said the sellers were investors based in Germany.

“I had to project manage the refurbishment after the tenants left some units in a bad state; we fully refurbished one of the units to show buyers the potential of the property,” Mr Psarros said.

“The buyer was a gentleman called Vincenzo who is originally from Italy but now calls Adelaide home,” he said.

“I believe his plans are to renovate the units in an effort to increase the rental yield.”

15 Moseley Road Paradise (pictured above)

• Sold under the hammer for $815,000

• 11 registered bidders, three active

• Lead agent: Mannas Chan - 0451 858 389

• Ray White Norwood

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White SA/NT chief auctioneer

Mr Chan said there were lots of buyers who were upsizing from a unit and wanting the lovely garden space.

He said it was an investment property for the sellers, who decided to offload due to interest rate rises.

‘The buyer was a young family and they are thrilled to move into their family home. Recently, vendors have become more reasonable and familiar with the current market that we are in.”

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Media Contact:
Nina Clarke
Ray White Group
nclarke@raywhite.com
0448 841 606