A woman who intended to knock down and build her dream home in Burwood has sold up for $4.1 million after neighbours rallied the council over her plans to build a modern home.
The five-bedroom at 11 Seale Street was not originally heritage or conservation listed but once the neighbours petitioned against the development the owner was told she could no longer proceed.
The property was one of 1517 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.4 per cent from 965 reported results, while 257 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Three registered, and two participated in the auction for the classic home on a 1167-square-metre sprawling block.
Bidding opened at its guide of $3.6 million and went up in $100,000 lots until it stopped at $4 million. The vendor was asked if they would sell at this price, effectively lowering their $4.2 million reserve.
They agreed and it was announced as on the market. The underbidder then offered an additional $100,000 and secured the keys for $4.1 million.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Selling agent Norman So of Belle Property said, “If it wasn’t [heritage] listed, then we would have secured probably six and a half million today, because you can build two pairs of duplexes on this.”
The vendor purchased the property in 2020 for $3 million and leased it out the entire time, she never moved in.
In Drummoyne, a two-bedroom unit with a lock-up garage sold for $1,035,000 under the hammer. The apartment at 2/263-267 Victoria Road had a mix of buyers interested, ranging from first home buyers to downsizers and an investor.
Five registered and four made offers on the freshly painted flat in a boutique block of 15.
Bidding opened slightly below its $850,000 guide at $830,000 and consistent $10,000 bids increased the pace. Towards the end two women were battling it out in smaller increments.
The bidder who opened the auction became the eventual buyer, securing the unit for $1,035,000, paying $75,000 above its $960,000 reserve.
Selling agent Mario Carbone of Ray White Drummoyne said that “with the double glazing, you couldn’t actually hear the road”.
“I think what people loved about this home was it was in that sweet price point as well. And it was good value for this type of home, because of the Victoria Road … it was really good buying compared to what you’d have to pay for this in the back street.”
The buyer is downsizing from a townhouse in the suburb. The vendor had moved overseas and was watching the auction on livestream from America.
The flat last traded for $701,000 in 2016, records show.
In Strathfield, a vacant block of land at 26 Boden Avenue sold for $4.9 million under the hammer. Guided at $3.95 million the vendors paid $3.62 million for the original home last year, which they demolished.
During the four-week campaign, nobody attended any of the inspections of the block of dirt, yet 100 turned up for the auction.
Twelve people registered and six actively bid. Many were builders and developers, but there were also people looking to build.
Bidding opened at $4 million and went up in predominantly $50,000 bids, quickly passing its $4.2 million reserve. Then bids ranging from $100,000 to $10,000 were placed until it sold for $4.9 million to a developer.
Selling agent Tarun Sethi of McGrath Strathfield said the vendor had DA approval and paid for an architect. The costs posted online show a spend of $240,000 in total. A Construction Certificate had also been issued.
Sethi said the approvals will help the buyer, “six months of your life get saved if you buy something DA approved, maybe six to nine months, depending on how long the council takes for approvals and how long you need to design the home first before lodging it to council with architects as well”.
The vendor is moving to the Canada Bay precinct.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said that Domain’s clearance rate of 62.4 per cent is “remaining fairly soft”.
“There’s less optimism about interest rate cuts now, and even some talk that rates might have to go up,” Oliver said. “So that’s acting as a bit of a drag.”
He said the combination of higher listings, less optimism, threats of hikes and seasonal weakness were weighing on the market and clearance rate.
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