Five Dock house fetches $200,000 auction bonus via unusual strategy

An unusual selling strategy led to a standout result at auction on Saturday when a Five Dock home listed with a published reserve sold for about $200,000 more.

The three-bedroom house at 28 Sutton Street, which features charming decorative ceilings and a period fireplace and is near a future metro station site, had a reserve stated on the listing of $2.2 million. It sold to an upsizing family for $2,401,000.

The property was one of 580 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 53 per cent from 353 reported results throughout the week, while 124 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The clearance rate has edged off its lows after hitting an early result of 47 per cent three weeks ago but remains in territory that suggests prices are falling. A result of 60 per cent is considered a balanced market, and the early result is likely to be revised down as more results are reported.

The Five Dock home attracted two registered bidders – a younger family upsizing from the Kingsgrove area and a local investor – both of whom competed at auction.

Bidding began at $2 million and rose in $50,000 increments until $2.2 million, when the stride shortened. The upsizing family won the day, McGrath Strathfield selling agent Michael Murphy said.

“[They] loved the amenity in Five Dock,” he said, adding the Five Dock metro station is being built nearby.

“I think that was stronger than most auctions at the moment.”

Vendors often set the reserve price on the morning of the auction, and it is rarely disclosed on the online listing. But Murphy said the reserve of this deceased estate had been published in the last week of the campaign to give full transparency to the market about the price expectations for the property.

“It did well to pass those expectations,” he said. “I felt the owner’s expectations were realistic. I feel that sometimes buyers don’t have full trust in the auction process when it comes to auctions’ buyer’s guides.”

On the northern beaches, an investor outbid young couples for a pocket-sized house in Cromer, paying $1,352,000.

The two-bedroom home at 42A Toronto Avenue was set on a block of only 171 square metres that used to be the garage of the home at number 42, but had been subdivided.

The median house price in Cromer is $2,555,000 on Domain data, and the median for the northern beaches region is $2.8 million.

“It is entry-level for a freestanding home on the northern beaches,” Stone Real Estate Greenwich selling agent Chris Keane said. “Very, very good buying, in my opinion.”

Five parties registered for the auction and four participated. The opening bid was $1,203,000 – just above the $1.2 million guide – after an earlier offer of $1,003,000 was declined.

Bidding was consistent in mostly $10,000 and $15,000 increments. The home sold for $102,000 more than its reserve of $1.25 million.

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

Keane said that for well-presented homes, competition could still be fierce.

“I don’t think the market is booming,” he said. “This is certainly evidence that buyer confidence is improving.”

In Croydon, a renovated family home is still available after passing in at auction on a bid of $3.85 million.

The vendors of the four-bedroom Californian bungalow at 25 Hammond Avenue had upgraded the kitchen, bathrooms and floors over the past few years.

The home was listed with a price guide of $3.6 million and drew four registered bidders, of whom two made offers for the more than 800-square-metre block.

Bidding began at $3.5 million and rose in $25,000 and $10,000 increments.

An upgrader made the highest bid of $3.85 million, at which point the home passed in. The vendors’ reserve was $3.9 million.

The underbidder intended to knock the home down and rebuild a duplex. The vendors are a family hoping to downsize.

Belle Property Strathfield selling agent Norman So hoped the home would sell in the next week or two.

“Because the market changed so quickly – we started the year with a war, then interest rates crept up a little bit, then you had the budget,” So said.

“The purchasers reacted very quickly. It is taking my vendors a bit of time to adapt.”

In Schofields, a family home sold for $1,479,777 in a fast Sunday auction as sellers who had been able to buy elsewhere at a substantial discount in a weakening market took a slight haircut on their hopes.

Bidding for the five-bedroom house at 6 Ashburton Crescent began at its price guide of $1.4 million and the two registered parties, local upgraders, competed.

Ray White Schofields/Riverstone selling agent Amit Kumar said the winners made the unusual final bid because they really wanted the home.

The vendors’ reserve had been $1.49 million. “It was only $10,000 away so they were happy to meet the market,” Kumar said.

He said the sellers were also upgrading and had bought a $2.4 million home for about $2.2 million, leaving them about $190,000 ahead.

“It is actually the perfect market to upgrade,” he said. “It is a little bit patchy. Some of the properties are doing really well … some of the properties have less bidders.”