Auction round-up: Georgetown cottage last sold for $29k fetches $1.22m at auction

A modest three-bedroom cottage delivered a strong result at auction in Georgetown over the weekend.

The property at 47 Brett Street was offered to market for the first time since 1984.

Belle Property’s Garon Michalitsis listed the 440-square-metre property with an auction guide of $1.1 million.

The auction attracted six registered bidders, including a mix of investors and first-home buyers.

“We had six registered, with five arriving on the day, and three of those were actively bidding,” Mr Michalitsis said.

“There were a couple of first-home buyers, but it was predominantly investors, but in the end it was two investors, one local and one from out of area, fighting it out to win the auction.”

The auction started at $1 million and was hotly contested from the opening bid.

A second bid took it to $1.05 million, and the bidding rose in increments of $10,000.

“There was a bit of an arm wrestle, and another investor sitting on the sidelines kicked into gear and started fighting it out until the end,” he said.

“It was a very competitive auction with around 30 bids.”

The property was sold to an investor for $1.22 million.

The single-level weatherboard house was updated and retained period details such as picture rails, ornate plasterwork, and a decorative fireplace.

Cotality records show the property was sold in November 1984 for $29,000.

“It was a very strong result; the owners were stoked,” he said.

“We had solid levels of enquiry in the lead up to the auction, and the interest rate cut last week did not hurt.

“Georgetown is a boutique suburb, and there are not many sales throughout the year, so it catches people’s eye when something does pop up.

“I think the investor will do well in the long term.”

Auction markets responded positively to the May rate cut, with Cotality’s preliminary results showing Newcastle and Lake Macquarie recorded a clearance rate of 78.6 per cent.

There were 17 auctions scheduled in the region in the week ending May 25.

In Adamstown Heights, the auction of a 1960s-built three-bedroom, two-bathroom weatherboard house in a cul-de-sac at 33 Boronia Avenue attracted eight registered bidders.

The 786-square metre property, listed with Mathew and Brooke Iuliano at Mavis Property Co, was guided at $775,000 to $850,000.

It included a renovated kitchen, an original bathroom and a plunge pool in the backyard.

The bidding opened at $700,000, and the property went on to sell for $897,000.

Cotality records show the property was last sold in 2014 for $515,000.

In New Lambton, Spillane Property’s Donna Spillane auctioned a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 1/94 Kings Road with a guide of $700,000.

The property was previously sold in 2020 for $510,000.

The hotly contested auction had 10 registered bidders, with five actively engaged in the bidding, which opened at $695,000.

After 36 bids, the property was sold for $855,000.

Earlier in the week, Harcourts Newcastle’s Joel Soldado took a renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 14 Watson Street in Islington to auction.

The auction had nine registered bidders, starting with an opening bid of $1 million and the property sold for $1.12 million.

Cotality records show it was previously sold in 2013 for $325,000.