A developer paid $2.28 million on Saturday for a North Epping home that he plans to knock down and replace, beating two other bidders who had the same plan.
The three-bedroom house at 4 Grigg Avenue had a reserve of $2.05 million and was marketed with a guide of $1.95 million.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Of the 10 registered bidders who braved the cold to attend the morning auction, seven were owner-occupiers keen to renovate the original-condition 1960s home.
The property was one of 539 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney this week.
But when bidding opened at $1.9 million, the field narrowed to three parties, all of whom intended to redevelop the almost 740 sq m parcel as a duplex.
After three swift bids, rising in $50,000 increments, the property was declared on the market. Bidding then narrowed to $20,000 climbs, followed by $10,000 and a handful of $5000 rises.
The winning bidder was on holiday in Thailand and was represented by a buyer’s agent.
The vendor, a retiree whose father built the home 60 years ago, is moving to Western Australia to be near her niece.
McGrath agent Betty Ockerlander said the property’s 19-metre frontage and position on the high side of the street made it ripe for redevelopment.
The owner-occupiers who had registered were attracted by the home’s peaceful surroundings and position within the Cheltenham Girls’ High and Epping Boys’ High catchments, but were “ultimately priced out”.
Ockerlander said she had worked overtime to achieve an above-expectations result in the current market.
“I’ve been doing this for 32 years, and I’ve seen this cycle before. You just have to do more buyer work. You have to chase the buyers.”
In Camperdown, a two-bedroom worker’s cottage on a wide, tree-lined street sold for $1,465,000 after a rapid-fire bidding battle.
The home at 20 Hopetoun Street had a reserve of $1.4 million, the same as its guide.
Three bidders had registered, but one withdrew on Friday evening, citing issues with finance.
The two remaining parties, both owner-occupiers, clocked up 39 bids between them. Bidding opened at $1,255,000 and rose in $25,000 increments until auctioneer Edward Riley declared the home on the market.
The increments then narrowed to $5000, followed by $1000. The successful party sealed the deal with a final $5000 bid.
The property was a deceased estate. The purchaser, who was represented on the day by his father, plans to renovate before moving in.
Forsyth agent James Snodgrass said the home’s appeal was “all about location”, with parks, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Newtown an easy walk away.
He said the result showed there were “fantastic opportunities” for buyers in the current market.
“Generally speaking, the market has come off between 10 and 30 per cent. The government’s telling us it’s come off a couple of per cent, but that data’s already way out of date.”
In Caringbah South, a double-brick house with park views defied the downturn and sold for $105,090 above its reserve at auction on Saturday.
The home at 29 Robin Place had a reserve of $1.9 million and was marketed with a guide of $1.7 million. It sold for $2,005,090.
A sizable crowd, including eight registered bidders, gathered in the cul-de-sac for the mid-morning auction. Of those registered, six took part.
After an opening bid of $1.7 million, the price rose largely in $5000 increments, narrowing to $1000 increments as the home approached its reserve.
When the price reached $1.9 million and the home was declared on the market, bidding heated up again, with a flurry of $5000 raises before the successful party bid an extra $5090 to secure the keys.
The home was a deceased estate. “It was quite an emotional sale for the family,” Pulse Property Agents’ Luke Lombardi said. “Their father had lived there for 45 years.”
The purchaser is planning to renovate, stripping the original-condition home of its bright-red carpets, beige wallpaper and blue bathroom tiles before moving in with his family.
Lombardi said the result exceeded his expectations. “The amount of interest I had in this property did surprise me, to be honest.”
He said the registered bidders had been attracted by the quiet cul-de-sac location, the generous 588 sq m block and the five-bedroom home’s solid bones.
Lombardi said the result was cause for cautious optimism. “Let’s hope it is a sign that the market’s rebounding.”
Dan F Stapleton writes on First Nations issues, visual art, property and more. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Financial Times and others. He is based in Sydney.
