First home buyer pays $970,000 for inner west unit, as investors go quiet

A first home buyer with financial support from his mother paid $970,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Ashfield at auction on Saturday.

The auction for 39/98 Chandos Street was over within minutes as two registered bidders made a total of three bids. Bidding opened at $960,000, followed up by a bid of $965,000. After another $5000 rise, the hammer fell.

The property had a guide of $900,000 and a reserve of $970,000.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

The new owner’s mother had recently sold her property in nearby Haberfield and used some of the profit from that sale to help her son into the market. She is moving into retirement living in Sydney.

A sales agent for LJ Hooker, Domenic Bucciarelli, said most investors in the area had gone to ground as they weighed up their options after the federal budget.

“The investors are really trying to work out whether there is that incentive for them [to buy]. In many cases, the yield is not there, and with the changes to negative gearing, they are being kept at bay.”

Bucciarelli said Ashfield was growing in popularity as buyers interested in neighbouring suburbs such as Marrickville, Newtown and Dulwich Hill were priced out.

The property was one of 849 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney this week.

In Dural, a property that had been on the market for six months sold for $2.45 million, $100,000 under the reserve.

Two bidders were expected to compete for the keys to 9 Odette Road, but one dropped out at the last minute. The remaining bidder then negotiated directly with the vendor, who had built the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house 40 years ago.

After some discussion, a single bid was made and the auction ended. The property, which sits on a site of about 2 hectares, had a guide of $2.5 million and a reserve of $2.55 million. The new owners are a family with young children. The vendor plans to downsize.

A sales agent for Guardian Realty, Gavin Weekley, said while recent budget announcements were the subject of some discussion among buyers, it was too early to gauge their impact.

“For our target market in the Hills region, it has been slower since the beginning of the year because of interest rates,” Weekley said. “When you’re working with acreage, you’re not dealing with investors.”