Auction horror show: Free-standing Victorian terrace adjusts auction expectations as clearances dive

A former inner-Sydney soap factory and 1970s commune, which has been converted into a unique, three-level home, has sold at auction for $4.070 million.

The spacious warehouse conversion, dating back to the 1930s, was one of 1913 homes that went to auction in capital cities across the country last week, compared to 1836 the previous week, which were impacted by the AFL grand final in Melbourne.

With a long weekend in many states, including New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, the volume of auctions remained relatively low.

Warehouse winning bid

Listing agent Melinda Antella from BresicWhitney Inner East said bidding for the character-filled, industrial home at 136a Shepherd St, Darlington, opened with a bid of $3.2 million before two active bidders pushed the final selling price well above $4 million.

“It’s a unique property in that it is a warehouse in a great location and in a raw condition which means the buyers can renovate and make it their own,” she said.

Ms Antella said both bidders were owner-occupiers, who planned to move into the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home.

“The successful bidder was from the east of the city and was looking specifically for a warehouse to live in,” she said.

Just 524 properties went to auction in Sydney last week, impacted by the long weekend, well down from the 1199 auctions held the previous week, according to CoreLogic.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate was 62.7 per cent, down from last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 66.1 per cent, which was revised down to 60.9 per cent once finalised.

This time last year the auction clearance rate in Sydney was significantly higher at 65.9 per cent.

Kensington double fronted Victorian delivers surprising results

In Kensington, in Melbourne’s inner west, two locals battled it out for the keys to a three-bedroom, double-fronted Victorian at 1 McConnell Street.

According to listing agent Jerome Feery from Jellis Craig Kensington, one bidder was a downsizer and the other an investor.

The auction opened with a bid of $1.125 million before selling under the hammer for $1.305 million to the local investor, just $5000 more than when it last sold in September 2022.

Mr Feery said Saturday’s auction was indicative of the current market, where many homes are attracting just one or two active bidders at auction.

“We are selling a fair bit of stock but we have noticed that the buyer depth isn’t there. Instead of having three or four buyers at auction, you are now getting one or two buyers,” he said.

“As a result, we are seeing more homes passing in and we’re negotiating with a buyer afterwards,” he said.

He said with the peak spring selling season upon us, vendors needed to have realistic price expectations in line with the softer market conditions.

“We initially quoted this house at $1.3 million to $1.4 million but after the first fortnight of the campaign and receiving feedback we pegged it back to $1.2 million to $1.3 million,’ he said.

“We’re finding if vendor expectations are too high, if there’s any more than a 5 per cent gap, it’s very hard to get the deal done,” he said.

The home was one of 1059 properties that went to auction in Melbourne last week, well up from 236 the previous week due to the AFL grand final and slightly lower than the 1,152 auctions held at the same time last year, according to CoreLogic.

Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate was 64.4 per cent, up from last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 56.7 per cent, which was revised up to 57 per cent once finalised. This time last year the auction clearance rate in Melbourne was 66.9 per cent.

Weatherboard fixer-upper

In Ironbark, just two kilometres from Bendigo’s CBD, in north central Victoria, a dated three-bedroom weatherboard on a large corner block has sold under the hammer for $320,000.

Listing agent Darcy Quinn from Ray White Bendigo said three active bidders battled it out for the keys to 9 Ashley St, which is in a quiet, established neighbourhood.

“We had one local buyer and two buyers from Melbourne, who were all investors,’ he said.

“The local placed the winning bid. He might develop it at some point down the track, in later years,” he added.

Mr Quinn described the market in Bendigo as “consistent” and said anything priced under about $660,000 was “quite steady and healthy.”

“There is a bit more coming to market for spring, so buyers are going to have a bit more choice but if the property is marketed correctly, with the price being a part of that, then most properties are taking about 30 to 45 days to get results,” he said.

Low clearance

The combined capitals’ auction clearance rate has continued to fall, dropping to 63.9 per cent based on preliminary numbers, down from 64.5 per cent a week earlier, which was revised down to 60.6 per cent once finalised.

“This was the lowest preliminary clearance rate since the week ending December 18 at 57.6 per cent,” CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said.

“A low preliminary clearance rate in Sydney was the main drag on the capital city headline result,” Mr Lawless said.

Next week the number of auctions is set to rise to around 2600, with more than 1000 auctions currently scheduled for both Sydney and Melbourne.