Record crowds pack spring open homes

Ray White’s auction volumes rose about 10 per cent this week to 815, as Melbourne (196, up from 151) and Brisbane (118, up from 88) hit their spring rises. 

Melbourne had the strongest result of the capitals at 53.1 per cent preliminary clearance, ahead of Sydney on 46.7 per cent and Adelaide on 36.5 per cent. 

The top auction sale of the day was in Sydney, when Adam Mckay and Georgia Low of the powerhouse Ray White Upper North Shore business sold 23 Buckra St, Turramurra for $8.1 million with 5 registered bidders and 4 of them actively participating in front of a crowd of more than 100 people.

 The brand new build which had never been lived in was very sought after. The owners built this as their forever home but have since moved to Mosman.

“The house was finished a year ago and it’s so obvious that they were not building this to flip as the level of finish is beautiful. It was supposed to be their forever home. The happy buyers are moving from the inner west to be closer to the schools,” Adam McKay said.

The auction with the highest registered bidders across the country was an uninhabitable house in 11 Little Road Bankstown that Ray White Bankstown agent Anthony Roumanous sold for $1.251 million that attracted 9 registered bidders.

Ray White open homes had their busiest week of the year. Some 31,635 people came through 16,731 inspections across Australia in the past seven days. Homes are also selling a little faster: the median time from listing to unconditional has come down to 41 days, from 43 over the July–October period. Auctions are still drawing the biggest crowds, with auction opens averaging 2.3 attendees against 1.6 for private treaty. 

Thomas McGlynn, Ray White CEO Performance and Value, said the Australian property market was entering what could be a particularly challenging final six weeks of the year, with auction results continuing to soften and buyer competition now considerably lower than it was even six months ago. 

“While this time of year traditionally brings a greater sense of urgency to the market, we’re not seeing that translate into stronger buyer participation, and in some parts of the country conditions are becoming increasingly difficult for sellers to navigate,” Mr McGlynn said.

“Across Australia, more than 31,600 people attended Ray White open homes over the past seven days, with 16,731 open homes conducted, the highest number we’ve recorded in a single week this year and a further indication of the growing number of properties available for buyers to choose from. 

“Despite that level of activity, our national auction clearance rate fell to 35.2 per cent, compared with 67.6 per cent at the same time last year, while average active bidders have continued to decline sharply over the last year from 3 to 1.3.

“What’s important to recognise is that buyers are still making decisions, but they’re doing so with a different level of urgency and a greater willingness to walk away. We’re seeing that play out differently across the country, with Melbourne recording a clearance rate of 53.1 per cent, Sydney at 46.7 per cent and Brisbane at 21.4 per cent, reinforcing that national market conditions don’t necessarily translate into the same experience for every seller.

“For sellers, I think the opportunity is to recognise that the market is providing plenty of feedback, even when that feedback isn’t necessarily what they were expecting. 

“Buyers are showing us what they’re prepared to compete for and where they see value, and those who are willing to respond to that information will give themselves the best opportunity to achieve a successful outcome.”

New South Wales

Ray White New South Wales CEO Tim Snell said buyers tackled the heat this Saturday with a 46.7 per cent clearance rate from 195 scheduled auctions. “The market remains price sensitive to the most recent RBA rate rise, and vendors are being faced with the choice of accepting today's prices or potentially waiting until 2027,” Mr Snell said.

“Sydney eased from last week's clearance of 50.8 per cent. That's a much smaller fall than Melbourne and Brisbane, which each dropped around 13 points. At 46.7 per cent, Sydney sits well above the national.

“Beneath that, though, campaigns are still converting. Sydney's 45-day auction clearance lifted to 65 per cent from 58 per cent, and private treaty rose to 58 per cent from 53 per cent.

“Agents and sellers are preparing for next week's price reform, which will see price guides on every campaign. It will be interesting to see how that shapes strategy, and how the market responds, next weekend.”

23 Buckra St, Turramurra
Sold under the hammer for $8.1 million
5 registered bidders, 4 active bidders
Lead agent - Adam McKay (0412 133 173) and Georgia Low (0451 933 623)
Ray White Upper North Shore 

53 Barrie St, East Killara
Sold under the hammer $2.55 million
2 registered bidders, 2 active bidders
Lead agent: Jessica Cao - 0466 877 260
Ray White Upper North Shore

After 42 years in her East Killara home, the owners of 53 Barrie Street watched it sell under the hammer for $2.55 million this morning.

A young family from the Lower North Shore bought the four-bedroom, two-bathroom architect-designed brick home. It sits on 841sqm, has a north-facing pool and looks out over Garigal National Park towards Chatswood. Both registered bidders took part, and the underbidder stopped at $2.4 million.

Ray White Upper North Shore’s Jessica Cao said the buyers had family just around the corner.

“Our buyer has family who live in East Killara, so it’s great they’ll all be close,” Ms Cao said.

The campaign was switched to auction partway through, which made the seller nervous.

“She was so worried about going to auction, and now she’s so happy,” Ms Cao said.

Seller Anne-Marie said she was anxious before the auction and thrilled with how it turned out.

“I didn’t sleep well last night because I was anxious about the auction, but at the end of the day I’m amazed at Jessica and at the price we got, especially in this market,” she said.

“To have two active bidders competing for our property is unheard of right now. We have lived here for 42 years, this was our first time selling at auction, and I would tell anyone who is selling to go to auction. We’ve seen so many listings sit and wait.”

“Jessica is incredible. She’s so calm and patient, and we felt in total control with her.”

The sellers are downsizing and have already bought an off-the-plan apartment in Roseville.

6 Blue Jay Court, West Pennant Hills
Sold under the hammer for $2.565 million
2 registered bidders, 1 active bidder
Lead agent: Nathan Leuzzi - 0412 975 190
Ray White Upper North Shore

A young couple are swapping apartment life in Breakfast Point for a family home after buying 6 Blue Jay Court, West Pennant Hills, under the hammer this morning for $2.565 million.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house sits on 807.6sqm in a quiet cul-de-sac. Inside, it has an open fireplace with a bronze marble mantel, an island kitchen with Patagonian quartzite benchtops, and a lower level with a cinema-style rumpus, bar, wine cellar and gym. Outside there’s a saltwater pool and a stone pizza oven.

About 20 people watched the auction. Ray White Upper North Shore’s Nathan Leuzzi said the buyers were upgrading to a house so they could start a family, and the sellers were downsizing.

“At the end of the day, we found the right buyer at a fair market price,” Mr Leuzzi said.

“Dion Verzeletti and I have more than 60 years of combined experience and have sold hundreds of homes in this area, so we know this neighbourhood well.”

He said the owners were very happy with the result.

7/159 Enmore Road, Enmore
Sold under the hammer for $1,340,000
5 registered bidders, 4 active bidders
Lead agent: Ercan Ersan - 0423 941 112
Ray White Surry Hills
Auctioneer: James Keenan, Ray White

26/500 Crown Street, Surry Hills
Sold under the hammer for $3.25 million (reserve was $3 million)
6 registered bidders,  5 active bidders
Lead agent - Charles Touma - 0425 305 455
Ray White Touma Taylor

Mr Touma said he used to live in the building and he knows how special it is.

“The last one I sold there was just the day before the lockdown in COVID. This building has always attracted great downsizers as it’s an unbeatable location. This unit has never been offered to market. We had a lot of buyers from the eastern suburbs, Paddington and Surry Hills professionals couple. In the end it was bought by a family from Bellevue Hill and their son will move in. The sellers are happy with such a great outcome.”

24 Draper Avenue, Roselands
Sold under the hammer $1.370 million (reserve $1.36 million)
7 registered bidders, 2 active active
Lead agent: Jordon Le Breux - 0414 585 364
Ray White Bankstown
Auctioneer: Tony Roumanous, Ray White 

Seven buyers registered for 24 Draper Avenue, Roselands, this morning. An opening bid of $1.3 million left just two of them in the contest, and the home sold under the hammer for $1.37 million, $10,000 above reserve.

The house is a single-level, three-bedroom home with period features such as high ceilings, picture rails and timber floorboards. It sits on 499.5sqm, and the backyard has a covered entertaining area, an outdoor oven and established fruit trees, including two lemon trees, a kumquat and a mango.

Ray White Bankstown’s Jordon Le Breux said every registered bidder was a local, and all seven came through Ray White’s in-house platform, NurtureCloud.

“NurtureCloud is without a doubt a game changer for Ray White agents,” Mr Le Breux said.

“We ran a textbook auction campaign, and it had good energy and momentum from the get-go.”

He said one bidder arrived with a clear strategy.

“The second bidder opened at $1.3 million and knocked everyone else out,” he said.

“Some properties are outperforming, and this campaign was always going to do well. This house would have done well in any market.”

21 Kelso Street, Burwood Heights
Sold under the hammer for $2.455 million
7 registered bidders, 5 active bidders
Lead agent: Spiro Mavridis - 0401 426 636
Ray White Burwood

64 Collins St Belmore
Sold under the hammer for $2.215 million
2 registered and active bidders
Lead agent: Mourad Garabedian - 0403 725 775
Ray White United Group
Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro

6 Batlow St Stanhope Gardens
Sold under the hammer for $1.403 million
5 registered bidders, 3 active bidders
Lead agent: Nathan Beazley - 0420 883 163
Ray White United Group

Victoria

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Luke Banitsiotis said the early clearance rate data for the day was sitting at 52 per cent, a solid step ahead of the sub-50 per cent averages we’ve been seeing lately. 

“Looking at the past two weeks, it’s clear the market is finally getting to grips with the new reserve disclosure rules. Everyone is acclimatising to the transparency, and the dust is starting to settle,” Mr Banitsiotis said.

“For vendors already on the market, there is absolutely still time to get a result this side of Christmas. 

“The auction process is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, creating a hard deadline that drives urgency and forces buyers to make a decision. It’s worth keeping the calendar in mind, too: if you don't secure a sale before the break, you're realistically looking at a late January sale, meaning it’s highly unlikely you'll actually see settlement before late March or early April next year.

“However, the momentum currently comes with a caveat. Auctions are driving action, but only when the price sits at a level the market actually wants to engage with. If the pricing makes sense, the buyers will show up and compete.”

30 Mccarthy Grove, Montmorency
Sold under the hammer $1.475 million (reserve $1.240 million)
5 registered bidders, 3 active bidders
Lead agent/auctioneer: Jackson Ball - 0484 064 435
Ray White Eltham

A local school teacher with two young children has bought 30 McCarthy Grove, Montmorency, under the hammer for $1.475 million. Bidding opened at $1.1 million and climbed quickly. Three of the five registered bidders took part.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on 928sqm, adjoins the McCarthy Grove Flora and Fauna Reserve and is zoned for Eltham High School.

Seller Grant McCarthy and his family had lived there for 31 years.

“It was a nerve-racking way to sell, but I’m so happy it’s all sold now,” Mr McCarthy said.

“All the houses in the street were built by the same builder in the late 1980s. Ours had been renovated, but some things were still the same. There’s no way we would have got this result with a private sale.”

He said selling was hard, but the auction drew outstanding numbers of buyers.

“The selling process is hard, with people saying things about your house! But we had outstanding numbers of buyers through.”

The family have already moved to a 10-acre block in Bundalong, on the Murray River in north-eastern Victoria. They bought it in May, and Mr Ball helped them with that purchase too.

“Jackson has been a terrific bloke and so easy to deal with. He even helped us with our house in Bundalong to make sure we got a good one,” Mr McCarthy said.

Mr Ball said he welcomed the new rules on disclosing reserves, and published this reserve a week earlier than he needed to.

“I like it. In fact, we published the reserve two weeks ago,” he said.

“It’s good for buyers to know if they’re in the right range before they show up.”

20 Starling Street, Montmorency
Sold under the hammer for $975,000 (reserve was $835,000)
4 active bidders
Lead agent/auctioneer: Jackson Ball - 0484 064 435
Ray White Eltham

7 Katrine Place, Deer Park
Sold under the hammer for $950,000 (reserve $900,00)
3 registered bidders, 2 active bidders
Lead agent/auctioneer - Darren Lambert - 0404 542 361
Ray White West Realty

A young couple has finally won at auction after a year of missing out. They bought 7 Katrine Place, Deer Park, under the hammer for $950,000.

Bidding opened at $800,000 in front of a small crowd of about 15. Two of the three registered bidders took part.

Agent and auctioneer Darren Lambert, from Ray White West Realty, said the buyers had been looking for a year and had been the underbidder many times.

The sellers had moved out four years ago and rented the home out since. Mr Lambert said they had hoped to keep it for their children, but decided it was too good to stay a rental.

“The sellers are really rapt with the price,” he said.

Queensland

Ray White Queensland Head of Auctions Tom Gunness said auction momentum remained strong, with 233 scheduled auctions marking the second-busiest week of spring and driving 8,401 buyers through open homes across the state. 

“While under-the-hammer clearance rates sat at 23 per cent with an average of 2.0 registered bidders per property, our 60-day auction clearance rate reached 77 per cent—significantly outperforming private treaty at 54 per cent. Campaign data reinforces why the process works: by day 45, auction listings meet an average of 32 buyers compared to just 16 for private treaty, creating the competition required to secure standout results like a $7.5 million sale in Hamilton. 

“Momentum isn't a given in this market, but when agents and vendors commit to transparency and broader buyer reach, the auction process consistently delivers market leading outcomes.”

It is not every day a property hits the market with floor-to-ceiling books, with pigeons in the ceiling, snakes in the yard, and a past life steeped in music.

Set along Wynnum’s coveted Golf Course Avenues, 66 Boxgrove Avenue, Wynnum, the three-bedroom deceased estate was a raw 405sqm canvas for builders and renovators ready to start from scratch.

Ray White Bulimba sales agent Zoe O’Connor sold the property today for $676,000 at the auction event at The Calile Hotel to a first home buyer couple.

“He’s a carpenter and his dad is an electrician so they will do a great job at their renovation once they get the birds out of the roof!”

Behind the post-war facade lay a story as eccentric as it was extraordinary, Ms O’Connor said.

“The home belonged to an independent, highly talented musician and librarian who lived without children and surrounded herself with an astonishing personal library,” Ms O’Connor said.

“She was an incredibly gifted, fascinating lady. The house was quite literally packed floor to ceiling with many, many thousands of books.” 

After the owner went into care, nature began moving in alongside the collection, Ms O’Connor said.

“To say it was chock-a-block is an understatement - it was on another level,” Ms O’Connor said.

“Between the wasps, pigeons nesting in the ceiling cavity, and a few snakes in the yard that had made themselves right at home, it took multiple teams just to clear the space. 

“Many books, vinyl records and CDs were salvaged and donated to the University of Queensland or sent overseas, but much of the home had been reclaimed by the elements.” 

Ms O’Connor said while the existing three-bedroom, one-bathroom post-war home is widely seen as a complete knockdown, its underlying value sits in the earth beneath it. 

Positioned on the elevated high side of the street, the 405sqm block sits moments from Wynnum Golf Club, the Bayside Esplanade, transport links, and local village cafes.

“The land has enormous potential. Post-war homes on elevated blocks in the Avenues don't come along often, especially with this kind of clean-slate appeal.” 

South Australia

Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said ther was an interesting trend emerging in the local property market. “I think it's one that every potential seller should be paying attention to. Throughout this financial year, so far, Ray White has consistently held between 47 and 54 per cent of all auctions across South Australia.” Mr Morris said. 

“Meanwhile, we currently hold around 20 per cent of all property listings, yet we're responsible for approximately 25 per cent of settlements. 


“What does that mean? 

“We're settling a greater share of properties in the market than our share of listings, suggesting we're turning stock over more effectively than our collective competition. 

“And in a market where property prices are softening, that's incredibly important because each additional week a property sits on the market potentially exposes a vendor to further price reductions, increased competition, and ultimately less money in their pocket. 


“So is there a connection between Ray White conducting more than half of the state's auctions and our ability to settle a disproportionately higher number of properties? 

We can't say for certain that one causes the other - but it is a pretty interesting coincidence. What we do know is that auctions create deadlines, encourage buyers to make decisions and provide sellers with genuine market feedback in a defined time frame. 

“And importantly, the success of an auction campaign shouldn't be measured solely by whether the property sells under the hammer, but how quickly and effectively the property sells throughout the entire campaign. 

“And while some agents continue to shy away from auctions because they're worried about not selling all the day, perhaps they should be more concerned about how long their vendor's properties are sitting on the market.  Because in a declining market, the biggest risk isn't necessarily failing to sell an auction day. It's failing to sell while the market continues to move away from you.”

4a Manberry Road, Gilles Plains
Sold under the hammer for $895,000
1 registered and active bidder
Lead agent: Blake Bryant - 0476 957 176
Ray White Prospect
Auctioneer: Crispian Fielke, Ray White