Swiftie fever no match for property market

Ray White NSW | ACT chief auctioneer Perry Edmondson-Clark said despite the Taylor Swift fever that has swept through Sydney, the market was full of action.

“The rain didn’t seem to slow things down this weekend with buyers quick to 'shake it off’,” Mr Edmondson-Clark said.

“We recorded 296 scheduled auctions across the state this week, up over 18 per cent year-on-year which is expected given the continued increase in listings.

“Buyer appetite still seems to be matching our stock levels, but some markets are starting to see the influx of stock put pressure on prices, so how long will this love story last?”

3-5 Tomah Pl, Westleigh

• Sold for $3.365 million

• Four registered and two active bidders

• Agents: Amy Kaslar and Charles Caravousanos

• Ray White Upper North Shore

“There is nothing comparable to this house in the area, it’s the only home of its style and type in Westleigh and the surrounding suburbs. It’s double the size of any other property in the area - the average land size is around 695 sqm and this home offers 1,329sqm,” Ms Kaslar said.

“The sellers have owned the property for 28 years and have raised their family there but it’s now time to move on.

“The sale has broken the suburb record which was previously $2.85 million.

“We had 135 groups through during the campaign and they were mainly families. The buyers today were a couple with children who are upsizing into the area.”

23 Albany Cres, East Killara

• Sold for $3.12 million

• Six registered and two active bidders

• Agent: Jessica Cao

• Ray White Upper North Shore

“The house was bought by a local family who are going to move in and renovate it but we did also have people looking to knock it down as well,” Ms Cao said.

“It’s an older house with lots of potential, on a flat block, no easement, a nice view and in a good spot in a good school catchment.”

2/40 Howard St, Randwick

• Sold for $1.44 million - $240,000 above reserve

• 13 registered bidders and two active bidders

• Agents: Angus Gorrie and Samuel O’Reilly

• Ray White Eastern Beaches

• Auctioneer: James Hayashi, Ray White

“We had 130 groups inspect the unit throughout the campaign and there was a full mix of buyers from first home buyers, a few investors and some downsizers,” Mr Gorrie said.

“The bidding started at $1.2 million and it went to a local owner occupier, while the underbidder was buying for his kid.

“The unit is north facing in a great, tightly held building - it wasn’t huge, only 66 sqm, but it’s in a good spot and only one flight up which people loved.”

“Apartments are flying at the moment, I’ve sold 16 so far this year and all of them have been sold through auction or prior to auction - there’s a lot of buyer confidence in this part of the market at the moment.”

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said with no major events scheduled in Melbourne this weekend, real estate was the main attraction as buyers turned up in force in the pursuit of home ownership.

“Across the state, auction volume surged with over 1,600 auctions scheduled for the week, as new property listings increased by 30 per cent compared to the same period last year,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“For the Ray White network across Victoria, it was another huge week of auctions with a year high of 234 scheduled, indicating market confidence is high.

“Even with this increase in supply, buyer demand and competition at auction remains strong as the clearance rate pushes north of 76 per cent.

“With market conditions favouring both sides of the ledger, we expect these trends to continue and even improve as we approach the end of the first quarter.”

4 Princess St, Oakleigh

• Sold for $1.19 million - $112,000 above reserve

• Six registered bidders and three active bidders

• Agents: Jonathon Eaves and Darius Sotiropoulos

• Ray White Oakleigh

“The winning bidder and under bidder both bid remotely for the property as one was at work and the other lives in Sydney,” Mr Eaves said.

“The sellers bought the home during COVID so they were excited that this time they could put up the sold sticker.”

25A Heather Gr, Cheltenham

• Sold for $1.226 million - $36,000 above reserve

• Three registered and active bidders

• Agents: Kevin Chokshi and Elise Russell

• Ray White Cheltenham

“We had a footy player bidding on this one, Jake Bowie who plays for the Melbourne Demons but unfortunately he wasn’t successful. We had two other bidders involved and a young family ended up purchasing that property,” Mr Chokshi said.

“Half way through the auction, we had a neighbour who decided to take the centre stage and said ‘it’s a bit unorthodox but I just want to tell everyone how good this neighbourhood is’, which kept it entertaining.

“There was a really strong appetite for this one because everyone wants to be in the exclusive Pennydale pocket of Cheltenham.”

Later in the day, Mr Chokshi also sold 5/4 Tennyson St, Highett for $728,000 to a young first home buyer, with six registered bidders and three active bidders involved.

“It started very high, above the range at $675,000, and sold for $728,000. A young first home buyer bought it but was two first home buyers versus a downsizer throughout the bidding,” Mr Chokshi said.

“Appetite so far seems really strong for properties and there definitely seems to be a bit of a rush on the buying journey before the prices go up so there’s been some very strong, healthy competition at all the auctions and also through all the open home numbers today, which have been really good across the board.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said it was a very impressive day in Brisbane.

“The energy out there across the auction floor is as good as I’ve seen it so far this year. There has been some real underlying strength,” Mr Croft said.

“A highlight was 169 Nyleta St, Coopers Plains for Anton Silaen from Ray White Rochedale, which had an extraordinary 29 bidders and sold for $1.438 million. The result was all driven by the energy in the marketplace on the southside of Brisbane.

“Average registered bidders on all the other properties has been in excess of five so it just gives you a real indication of what we’re seeing out there and the pulse of the market, particularly on the southside of Brisbane.”

66 Abbott St, New Farm

• Sold for $4 million

• Five registered bidders and two active bidders

• Agent: Damon Warat

• Ray White Ascot

• Auctioneer: Jason Andrew, Ray White

“The buyers were people from Brisbane with a teenaged family looking to downsize,” Mr Warat said.

“We had a massive crowd there, something like 60 or 70 groups. Interest mainly came from buyers with teenage kids who were looking to downsize and be in a central location in a home with good separation between parents and kids.

“There’s been huge demand for this type of product at the moment, a finished product in New Farm is always going to be sought after.”

Ray White Collective auction event

“We had a really strong day, we went into it with a number of buyers trying to stop auctions by making last minute offers. Some were offers that were too good to refuse and it took us to eight pre-sales out of the 14 we were taking to auction from the original 19,” Ray White Collective principal Haesley Cush said.

“Total sales value came in just shy of $30 million including pre-sales and we had more than 30 registered bidders in the room out of a crowd of probably 150 people.

“We had strong bidding really early, the first five properties all sold quickly. The first auction was a unit at 34/21 Byron St, Bulimba that sold for $960,000 and then every other property from then on sold under the hammer for over $1 million. The top sale of the day was $3.1 million for a house at 257 Moray St, New Farm.

“There was a really good feeling from buyers today and a lot of activity. This has been the best January and February in nearly 30 years. The Brisbane market is in great shape.”

18 Archer St, Gordon Park

• Sold for $2.510 million

• Eight registered bidders and two active bidders

• Agent: Holly Bowden

• Ray White Wilston

• Lead agent: Phil Parker, Ray White

“The buyer was a local family with friends in the neighbourhood. Both the buyer and another one of the registered bidders had someone bidding on their behalf as they were in Sydney to see Taylor Swift,” Ms Bowden said.

“The auction opened quickly with a phone bidder, they were also a local and started the auction with a $1.8 million bid, then immediately the buyer who secured it came in with a $2.4 million bid. They really wanted it and that was their strategy.

“We had quite a few downsizers and some young families come through during the campaign, in the end there were 194 groups who came through.

“Anything under $1 million and anything that’s ready to move in to like this one are what people are wanting. There’s been a lot of transactions in our market at the moment.”