Maroubra ‘blank canvas opportunity’ goes for $7 million

A modest bungalow in Maroubra with coveted ocean views sold under the hammer for $7 million on Saturday after a developer locked horns with two owner-occupier parties and pushed the price far beyond the property’s reserve.

The three-bedroom house at 48 Mermaid Avenue was marketed with a guide of $6.5 million, the same as its reserve.

A crowd of about 70 people, including many neighbours, took up positions in the sunshine to watch events unfold. Three parties registered to bid and all three were active.

Bidding kicked off at $6.3 million before rising in $100,000 increments as a developer and an owner-occupier jostled for control. At $6.6 million, the owner-occupier bowed out and another owner-occupier entered the fray.

The developer reached his limit at $6,925,000, leaving the active owner-occupier to place a final bid of $7 million and secure the keys.

Ray White Eastern Beaches director Angus Gorrie said the victor was planning to knock down the bungalow and build a dream home that took advantage of the property’s sweeping ocean vistas.

“It’s probably the best street in Maroubra, with the best views, and it really was a blank-canvas opportunity,” he said, adding the result pleasantly surprised him.

“I was thinking $6.5 million to $6.6 million, so to get to $7 million was unreal. It shows that people will pay for location, no matter the market. If the market was good, we probably would have had 10 bidders, but I’d say the hammer price would have been the same.”

The property was one of 885 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 45 per cent from 490 reported results throughout the week, while 184 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Como, a well-maintained freestanding family home with a north-facing backyard and a swimming pool sold for $3.14 million after spirited bidding.

The five-bedroom, two-storey home at 17 Wollun Street was marketed with a guide of $2.6 million. It attracted strong interest during the campaign from locals looking to upsize, said agent Danny Fox of Fox & Wood.

Seven groups registered and four were active. Bidding kicked off at $2.5 million and rose in $25,000-to-$50,000 increments until the reserve of $2.73 million was reached and the home was declared on the market. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

The field narrowed to two parties, who bid in increments as small as $1000 before one party finally bowed out and the hammer fell at $3.14 million.

Fox said the winning group was a family who were upsizing from a property nearby and intended to make the new acquisition their forever home. The underbidders, a couple living in the inner city, had the same plan.

Fox said the property’s location within Como and its position on Wollun Street were key to the auction’s success.

“It’s a house that ticked all the boxes: close to transport, on a quiet street, with a level backyard and a north-facing garden.”

Modern additions, including ducted air conditioning and a solar system, helped push the sale price past the $3 million mark, Fox said.

“With a turn-key property like this, you get your life back in 12 weeks, not two years.”

Meanwhile, in Alexandria, a generously proportioned two-bedroom apartment with a large north-east-facing courtyard was passed in before selling to an investor at a bargain price.

The home at 23/15-17 Fountain Street was marketed with a guide of $1.35 million. The reserve was $1.45 million.

Although three groups had registered to bid, one group – a first-home-buying couple – withdrew late on Friday, while another bidder walked out moments before the auction was due to start, said BresicWhitney agent Darren Davis.

“He was an opportunistic bidder, and when he realised the reserve was going to be in line with the guide, he just said: ‘I’m no longer interested’ and left.”

The third and final party, an investor, was on holiday overseas and planned to participate by phone, but after he declined to place a bid in line with the price guide, the property was passed in.

Subsequent negotiation between the investor and the vendors, a retired couple, got the home sold at $1.31 million.

“The vendors were sensible, and they went with what the market presented them on the day,” Davis said.

Although the apartment, part of a warehouse conversion, was full of character and perfectly presented, strata levies of about $3000 per quarter may have given some prospective buyers pause, Davis said.

“In this market, any property that has got a few hairs on it seems to be struggling.”