First home buyer whose dad bid on her behalf wins $2.3m Surry Hills home

A first home buyer won a stylish two-bedroom Surry Hills terrace at auction this weekend, paying $103,000 more than its vendors paid one year ago.

The two-storey home with a sleek, contemporary renovation at 53 Marshall Street sold under the hammer for $2.31 million, while in June 2025 it traded for $2,207,000.

The property was one of 812 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 49 per cent from 445 reported results, while 178 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

This compares to a preliminary result last week of 47 per cent – broadly comparable to lockdown-era lows.

Five parties from around the Sydney area, including one investor from Bellevue Hill, registered for the Surry Hills auction.

Bidding opened at $1.85 million, which was $50,000 below its $1.9 million guide.

Four parties competed. Initially, small $10,000 rises got the battle underway, then increments climbed higher to $25,000 and $50,000 rises as more buyers entered the fray.

The terrace sold for $210,000 above its $2.1 million reserve. The keys were secured for $2.31 million by a young first home buyer whose father bid on her behalf. She had been renting in Paddington. The vendors are upsizing to Balmain.

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

Selling agent Cadan Hickey from Ray White Touma Taylor said: “In this market at the moment… if you look at any home that was sold between 2021 until now… most of those homes are selling for a loss.

“We were expecting the same on this, so the fact that they made money at all is actually quite a large achievement, given what’s happening locally.”

In Maroubra, a three-bedroom apartment with a lockup garage guided at $850,000 drew 14 registered bidders, including two investors who did not participate.

Five parties were active, most were first home buyer couples vying for the unit at 3/261-263 Bunnerong Road.

Bidding opened at $800,000 and, in three bids, reached its $850,000 reserve. The competition then continued in $20,000, $50,000, $10,000 and $5000 increments.

It sold under the hammer for $1,075,000 to a downsizer who had sold their property in the suburb but wanted to stay local.

“Once the bidding started, there were no breaks at all. It just flowed right to the end,” selling agent Paul Spanoudakis from Raine & Horne Maroubra said.

“There are people out there looking to buy, and I think this was a property that really attracted those young couple first home buyers.”

He added that investors aren’t as strong as they were before the government’s changes to tax arrangements, which is giving some opportunity to young people to get into the market.

The deceased estate last traded for $191,000 in 1993, records show.

In Cronulla, a two-bedroom apartment with ocean views sold for $1.67 million.

The unit at 12/18-20 Arthur Avenue faced the Esplanade and had a sweeping ocean vista from the open-plan living room.

Four parties registered and four were active, a mix of downsizers, an investor and a young couple.

Bidding opened at its guide of $1.5 million and quickly met its reserve of $1.55 million. Bids climbed in increments ranging from $50,000 to $1000 until it sold for $1.67 million to a downsizer from the Shire.

Selling agent Mitch Kenyon from McGrath Cronulla said, “It’s on the Esplanade in Cronulla, it’s in a respected building that people know, and it’s on a cul-de-sac street.”

“There’s still investors from my perspective that have been out there looking to buy things. Seems like the ‘smart money’ is buying now.”

The vendors have moved into aged care.

The flat last traded for $369,500 in 1998, records show.

Ray White’s chief economist Nerida Conisbee said Domain’s clearance rate of 49 per cent for Sydney is “a little bit of a lift,” compared to last week’s 47 per cent, and seems to have stabilised, “which is better than declining further.”

She added that there is still a lot of uncertainty about what will happen to pricing in Sydney.

“The outlook is now probably more of a stabilisation as opposed to an increase,” she said.

“Auction markets tend to skew more owner-occupied, so it’s not necessarily showing up the impact on the investor market, but I think overall the market remains still very, very weak, and… not showing any signs of an uplift.”