The three-bedroom home at had a price guide of $2.4 million and drew 10 registered buyers,who were a mix of downsizers,investors and even first timers with the backing of parents.
Bidding opened at $2.2 million and swiftly rose as seven of the buyers competed for the home,which included a large terrace on title,and spanned a total of 281 square metres.
Towards the end,it was a two-buyer race between downsizers,one from the north shore and another from the eastern suburbs,who went head-to-head as they bid in $50,000 and $25,000 increments.
The eastern suburbs downsizer placed the winning bid of $3.25 million,$750,000 above the reserve price.
It comes just days after the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate another 25 basis points to a
Cooley’s auctioneer Damien Cooley said the buyer demographic and uniqueness of the home,contributed to the strong result.
The home with house-like proportions last sold for $440,000 in December 1993,records show.Peter Rae
“Apartments like this are very rare to market. And I don’t think the people[here] today have too much trouble[with] their borrowing power ... we did have a lot of downsizers,” Cooley said.
“People who have sold homes for tens of millions of dollars and are looking at moving down to an apartment,and they want a great outdoor entertaining space.”
Re/Max Property’s Nick Scarf,who was selling the property on behalf of a family member,said many of the buyers were not impacted by the latest rate rise.
“It’s not surprising in this economic environment that the people who have the greatest confidence to bid strongly are those who are not impacted by the interest rate rises.”
The home last sold for $440,000 in December 1993,records shows.
It was one of 862 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday. By evening,Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 64.9 per cent from 579 reported results,while 149 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Castlecrag,a stunning home with water views of Sugarloaf Bay fetched $13.5 million in a single bid auction.
The multi-award winning home of architect James Fitzpatrick at had a price guide of $12.8 million throughout the campaign.
The four-bedroom home completed in 2019 is known as The Seed House. It is set on a sprawling 5161-square-metre waterfront reserve filled with gum trees and has a tennis court and pool.
Three buyers registered to bid on the home,which was decked out in Tasmanian blackwood and high-end finishes,including Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances in the kitchen.
But a single knockout bid of $13.5 million,bang on the reserve,from an overseas buyer was enough to get a deal done on Saturday morning.
Atlas Lower North Shore’s John Melville said it was a strong result and was one of the highest sales for the suburb.
“It’s certainly a record for the last 12 months ... it was a really good result,” Melville said. “Castlecrag is going from strength-to-strength and people are realising its value. It’s a suburb on the rise.”
The property last sold for $2.92 million in 2007,records show.
In Greenhills Beach,a two-storey house at sold for $3.37 million to a Sutherland Shire family who were upgrading.
Three buyers – two owner-occupiers and an inner west investor – registered to bid on the five bedroom home that had a guide of $3 million.
Bidding started at $2.9 million and two buyers pushed the price up. The reserve was $2.95 million.
McGrath Cronulla’s Mitch Kenyon said it was a strong result.
“It went above expectation,” he said. “[But buyers] were definitely more cautious as a result of the rate rise on Tuesday.”
The home last traded for $845,000 in 2012,records show.
In Mosman,a waterfront unit at sold for $3,005,000 to investors.
Bidding for the home,opposite Balmoral Beach,opened on the guide and reserve of $2.6 million,and rose sharply as half of the four registered buyers competed.
The competition included a country family looking for a beach pad,as well as downsizers.
The Agency North’s Dino Gatti said while the result defied expectations,the home was highly sought after.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once you get a hold of these apartments you generally hold them for a decade,” Gatti said.
Gatti noted the interested buyers were largely unaffected by Tuesday’s rate rise.
“The buyer group on this apartment were middle-to-older buyers. They tend to have more money,they are either downsizing or hold multiple properties,so a 25 basis point interest rate rise doesn’t affect them as much as you think it would.”
The home last sold for $1.95 million in July 2020,records shows.