‘Buyers hard to find’: Early auction clearance rates fall to lowest this year

A stunning five-bedroom, three-bathroom, Queen Anne-style, Federation home in a sought-after street has sold under the hammer for $7.1 million.

The home at 13 Robinson St in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood was one of 1983 homes that went to auction in capital cities across the country last week.

The volume was well down on the 3135 auctions the previous week, with a reduced number of auctions in Melbourne due to the Melbourne Cup holiday on Tuesday, which sees many Victorians take a four-day weekend.

Meanwhile, the combined capital city preliminary clearance rate fell to 63.4 per cent, which is the lowest early clearance rate so far this year, down from 66.8 per cent the week prior, which revised down to 59.5 per cent on final numbers.

Owned by the same family for more than 30 years, the turn of the century Chatswood home combines original features such as ornate ceilings, marble fireplaces and a wrap-around verandah, with contemporary living, including a heated outdoor pool.

Lead agent John McManus from Ray White Lower North Shore said bidding for the home, which also features a large wine cellar and a visitors’ powder room, opened at $6 million, with three of the eight registered bidders getting involved in a highly competitive auction.

“There were three bidders going hammer and tong,” he said.

“And we had about 80 to 100 people in the crowd. It was an amazing auction,” he said.

The winning bidder was a young local family wanting to up-size.

“They had been looking for a while for the right property,” Mr McManus said.

The large family home is set on 935sqm, with sprawling manicured lawns and garden beds.

He said the vendors, who are downsizing were “so happy” with the result.

“My seller gave me a big hug,” he added.

Buyers scarce

Mr McManus said while there are some “quality” properties currently on the market, buyers are harder to find.

“Getting the right buyer through the house is the trick at the moment,” he said.

“We’re not seeing many buyers coming through. This one was a bit of a unicorn to be honest.”

The home was one of 1046 properties that went to auction in Sydney last week, up from the 987 auctions held the previous week, according to CoreLogic.

This time last year, 1059 homes went to auction in Sydney.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate was 65.5 per cent, up slightly from last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 64.5 per cent, which revised down to 55.9 per cent once finalised.

This time last year the auction clearance rate in Sydney was 65.6 per cent.

Second time lucky

A charming California Bungalow-style home that passed in at auction just five weeks ago has sold for $1.065 million after the vendors decided to try their luck again by holding another auction, this time online.

The first time around, the three bedroom home at 124 Barrow St, Coburg was listed with a price guide of $1.050 million to $1.150 million and passed in after not a single person placed a bid.

Listing agent Gebran Calik-Houston from Ray White Coburg said the house then reverted to a private sale with a price guide of $1 million to $1.1 million.

But with the home still sitting on the market some weeks later, the vendors were confronted with the option of withdrawing the property from sale or revising the price guide and re-auctioning it.

They chose the latter.

The vendors, who live in Sydney, bought the home as an investment property, but with an increase in land taxes in Victoria, Mr Calik-Houston said they decided to sell.

Records show the home was last sold in July 2016 for $875,150.

“They were very happy with the result. We had an offer prior to auction of $960,000, so to achieve a result of $100,000 over that was fantastic,” he said.

Mr Calik-Houston said they decided to hold the auction online, mainly due to it being so close to the Melbourne Cup, when many Victorians take the Monday off work and enjoy a four-day long weekend.

“The first time we held the auction on site, and it wasn’t the best result, and with the long weekend public holiday and a lot of people away we just thought an online auction would give people a bit more flexibility to attend and we could pool them altogether no matter where they were,” he said.

Bidding opened at $900,000 and it was on the market at $980,000, but three bidders, including two first home buyers and an investor, pushed the price well above the $1 million mark.

“I was a little nervous about how things would go after last time, but I think when you get a few people in that environment together things can really take off,” he said.

“The successful bidder was one of the first home buyers, who has been renting in Coburg for a while and has come through quite a lot of our properties around the area,” he said.

The home was one of just 473 properties that went to auction in Melbourne last week, well down from the 1603 auctions held the previous week, according to CoreLogic.

This time last year, 468 homes went to auction in Melbourne.

Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate was 62.4 per cent, down from last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 68.5 per cent, which revised down to 62.3 per cent once finalised.

This time last year the auction clearance rate in Melbourne was 57.7 per cent.

Mr Calik-Houston said properties that are priced well in Melbourne’s north are performing well.

“The quote range is really important at the moment and there is a bit of an education with some vendors,” he said.

“Ideally you want to get two to three buyers at auction to get those strong results.”

Retro beach house sells

In Rye, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a retro beach shack, in need of an update, has sold under the hammer for $748,000.

The elevated brick and timber home at 34 Tuerong Str, which features a 1970s-style kitchen and bathroom and vintage wallpaper, was sold as part of a deceased estate.

The strong auction result on Saturday meant the executor sold the property, which is located just a short walk from the Rye foreshore and local shopping village, for $468,000 more than the vendor paid for it, with records showing the home last sold in 2002 for $280,000.

The elevated three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with views over the bay attracted the attention of buyers looking to renovate or rebuild.

Bounce back

While auction volumes in Melbourne and the rest of Victoria were well down over the weekend, CoreLogic research director, Tim Lawless, said he expected capital city volumes to bounce back following the spring racing carnival.

“The number of auctions is set to bounce back over the next two weeks, with around 2900 homes scheduled for auction,” he said.

However, he expected the capital city auction clearance rates to remain below 60 per cent, given the weak preliminary result.

“The finalised auction clearance rate has held below 60 per cent for three of the past four weeks and is likely to settle below 60 per cent again, once the collection of auction results is finalised on Wednesday,” he said.