Auctions light up ahead of Christmas

Australasia’s leading auction group had 456 auctions scheduled today, recording a preliminary auction day clearance rate of 76 per cent.

With strong auction activity in full swing across the nation, there was an average of 3.8 registered bidders and 2.6 active bidders attending Ray White auctions.

The top auction sale was in the Sydney suburb of Cherrybrook. Ray White Upper North Shore’s Nathan Leuzzi sold 2 Hallen Rd, Cherrybrook under the hammer for $2,653,000, after a competitive auction.

The auction with the most registered bidders was also in Sydney. Julie Latham of Ray White Macarthur Group registered 21 bidders at their 24 Peppin Crescent, Airds auction, which sold for $818,000, achieving $68,000 over reserve.

SYDNEY

Ray White New South Wales State Auctioneer Perry Edmondson-Clark said that auction volume remained high for the final Saturday of auctions for the group.

“There were 157 properties scheduled to go to auction across Sydney today, with a certain sense of urgency in the market among buyers today, as the final opportunity to tick off that goal of purchasing a property in 2023 closes in.
“Sellers were also met with that same level of urgency, knowing that a result not achieved today certainly does leave them vulnerable to being on the market over the traditional break or quieter holiday period.

“On behalf of the entire Ray White NSW and ACT team, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year with your families, and we look forward to another strong year of auctions in 2024.”

2 Hallen Rd, Cherrybrook

• Sold under the hammer for $2,653,000 (reserve $2,645,000)

• Five registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Nathan Leuzzi - 0412 975 190

• Ray White Upper North Shore - Pennant Hills

“The auction was intense and competitive, starting with a strong bid of $2.5 million, and hard fought to the end with $1,000 bids,” Mr Leuzzi said.

“It was a classic turnkey property, generating plenty of buyer interest from in and out of the area.

“A family with young children were the buyers who showed interest in the campaign from the beginning, moving in from out of the area to prepare for the children’s schooling.”

11 Monash Gardens, Pagewood

• Sold under the hammer for $2,560,000 (reserve $2.1 million)

• Five registered bidders, five active

• Lead agent: Phillip Elmowy - 0425 285 444

• Ray White Maroubra | South Coogee

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

"It was a really great result for the area, after there was a recent sale close by two weeks ago that sold for $2.2 million. For a home like this, we're looking at a suburb record," Mr Elmowy said.

"The intensity of the auction started from the first bid at $2 million, and with a typical two horse race until the end driving the property to sell for $460,000 over reserve to a local buyer.

"As we can see, even from this auction alone, there is extremely strong buyer activity, driving home the auction method."

MELBOURNE

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrell said in what has been a remarkable late surge in auction numbers, this week's total of 293 scheduled auctions for Ray White Victoria is the highest week of auction activity this year.

“This is, in fact, the highest week of auction volume since December 2021, where we emerged from our COVID lockdowns.

“Even more exciting is the clearance rate this week, with 75 per cent of properties selling at auction that have been reported so far.

“There has also been an increase of properties selling prior to auction, with fourteen per cent deciding to sell to strong pre-auction interest, taking the total of all properties sold this week to a month high of 77.3 per cent.

“Whilst the market has been a little patchy of late, there have been plenty of strong sales across the network with an average of 2.1 active bidders competing across all auctions.

“Auction activity begins to slow down late into next week, however it's looking like the Ray White network is poised for a strong start to the year with over 300 auctions scheduled in January - another record breaking month!

“Merry Christmas everyone from the Ray White Victoria & Tasmania auction team and see you in 2024!”

67 Westlakes Boulevard, Lara

• Sold under the hammer for $1,430,000

• Four registered bidders, two active

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Matthew Wade-Taylor - 0430 006 345

• Ray White Lara

"We had a happy homeowner after putting their trust in me, calling in from overseas while they travel close to Christmas. Our sellers oversee the campaign right from the beginning and at the end of the day if the seller is happy, I'm happy,” Mr Wade-Taylor said.

"This property isn't just a house, it is a lifestyle. The eventual buyer started the bidding at $1.2 million, a couple looking to move closer to their son who recently built in Lara.

“The sellers built this home and have bought another home to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. They bought a property a month ago that backs onto their daughter's home that she recently bought also in Lara.

"The underbidder was a buyer who took a look at the property this morning whereas there were interested parties who came to look at the property 5-6 times who didn't place a bid, as they were priced out.

"If the property is priced right, then the interest is clearly generated in this market with the hammer going down at the end of the day."

83 Latrobe St, Cheltenham

• Sold under the hammer for $1,361,000

• Three bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Kevin Chokshi - 0430 195 517

• Ray White Cheltenham

"This property was originally built by an investor who was now looking to sell up his investment, now achieving a great price under the hammer, reaching over $1.3 million," Mr Chokshi said.

"We're still seeing a lot of positive activity in the market, with houses still drawing in the numbers. Buyers still have an appetite and want to purchase, especially those who have missed out at previous auctions and with the interest rate not increasing from last month.

"Surprisingly there's still quite a bit of stock on the market, considering most of the year we weren't seeing a whole lot, and now a few late properties are popping up for our eager buyers. It doesn't look like the market is going to sleep like it normally does around Christmas, while it's slowing it seems there will be plenty of activity in early January."

20 Truganini Road, Carnegie

• Sold under the hammer for $1,210,000 (reserve $1,050,000)

• Three bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: John Pantelios - 0452 521 611

• Ray White Carnegie

"It's a busy market, so when the house suits the brief there are buyers ready to purchase. We saw around 75+ groups through inspections, and good homes like these are getting harder to find,” Mr Pantelios said.

"The home has been owned by the same owner for over 19 years, who have now moved out of their very loved home and passed it onto the next Carnegie resident.

"The starting bid was a strong $1.1 million, but we wanted to make sure there was someone else willing to contest the bid before announcing it on the market. It turned out to be a great auction with strong bidding, although in smaller increments the bidders weren't willing to let this good home go as we don’t know when the next one will come up like this again.

"If you’re not buying before Christmas, you're looking at buying in the new year which leaves a little unpredictability of stock as who knows what’s to come, so we're seeing plenty of buyers out there before Christmas."

2 Banbury Crescent, Craigieburn

• Sold under the hammer for $600,000

• Three bidders

2 Lydd Court Craigieburn

• Sold under the hammer for $606,000

• Three bidders
  

Ray White Craigieburn’s Trish Orrico had two properties go under the hammer today, with the buyers who missed out at the first auction, following her to bid at the second property.

"There was fairly decent interest throughout both campaigns which also drew in a decent crowd on auction day, but it all went really quickly,” Ms Orrico said.

“I haven’t seen auctions like that for a while, it seems the buyers are sick of missing out and just want to buy something in today's market.

"The buyer of 2 Banbury Crescent, Craigieburn is absolutely wrapped as they'd already missed out at a few auctions recently. The underbidder of this auction also turned out to be the underbidder of the following auction, still hopeful in securing their home.”

The purchase at 2 Lydd Court Craigieburn was an exchange between investors, after another quick auction. Both properties achieved a sale price well above reserve under the hammer.

BRISBANE

270 Tufnell Road, Banyo

• Sold under the hammer for $1,030,000 (reserve $1,000,000)

• Seven registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Lachlan Macdonald-Camden - 0458 106 808

• Ray White Ashgrove

• Auctioneer: Adam Downes, Ray White

“It was a great auction that drew in a large crowd, scattered throughout the large yard of the property itself,” Mr Macdonald-Camden said.

“The sellers, a young family, had already bought a property off us previously in Ashgrove. They knew that their property, a classic 100-year-old Queenslander home sitting on a large block of land would spark interest amongst buyers at auction, reaching $80,000 over the highest offer prior.

“The eventual buyers were a local family living in Northgate, who had been property searching for the last year and were over the moon with their purchase. After missing out at auctions all year, they were happy to have their Saturdays back.”

ADELAIDE

Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said this was the busiest week of the year for auctions in South Australia, with 199 auctions scheduled to go ahead throughout the state.

“With 84 of those auctions being conducted by Ray White agents, yet again we’re sitting at 42.2 per cent of the market being represented by Ray White in this state,” he said.

“This is how it’s been all year, hovering around that 40 per cent mark. We truly do dominate in and around South Australia, as we do around the rest of Australia.

“Clearance rates are reporting incredibly strong again. Throughout the whole year we’ve hovered around 70 per cent, but last week we saw a 79.2 per cent clearance rate in South Australia.

“As we enter this weekend, we’re reporting a 83 per cent preliminary clearance rate. While bidder numbers have dropped off to an average of around six for the whole year, that is now sitting at around five bidders this week so far, as we head into the weekend where clearance rates are still remaining very strong.

“So fewer bidders turning up but the same amount are participating at auctions, and the same results are happening with around 70-80 per cent selling on the day.”

28 Hurtle Street, West Croydon

• Sold under the hammer for $1,380,000 (reserve $1,200,000)

• Seven registered bidders, seven active

• Lead agent: Peter Kiritsis - 0411 501 520

• Ray White Woodville

“There were tears of joy after a great and intense auction, with the final two bidders not willing to let the property go. However, it was a local woman who outbid the rest, after missing out on several other properties recently,” Mr Kiritsis said.

“There was a real mix of interested buyers with parties from Melbourne and Sydney bidding over the phone, and another young couple who had missed out at three or four auctions already.

“We’re seeing a lot of character homes within a 10km radius of the city, seeing an average of 5-10 bidders consistently, with a strong mix of locals and interstate people wanting to secure these homes. Knowing we have buyers flooding in from everywhere, it drives confidence in our homeowners to continue pushing every property to auction.”

13 Crombie St, Hove

• Sold under the hammer for $975,000

• Six registered bidders, two active

• Lead agent: Samuel Paton - 0401 757 819

• Ray White Glenelg

• Auctioneer: Rod Smitheram, Ray White

“Auctions drive momentum and we saw that at today’s auction as it built up between two bidders going head to head, bringing the result to a final sale price of $975,000,” Mr Paton said.

“The property was sold to a young couple, who grew up in the area, now securing their family home after bidding against an interstate buyer over the phone.

“During COVID we saw a lot of activity in Australians moving interstate. I would say now we’re seeing 98 per cent of interest from our South Australian locals.”

2/6 Thorpe Rd, Burnside

• Sold under the hammer for $615,000

• Four registered bidders, four active

• Lead agent: Brandon Pilgrim - 0438 807 061

• Ray White Norwood

• Auctioneer: George Kargiotis, Ray White

“The auction kicked off with some strong activity and dragged a few strategic bids out from the involved buyers,” Mr Pilgrim said.

“The previous homeowners were happy to have their property sold and not have to continue the campaign in the new year, with local downsizers securing their new home.

“Buyers are starting to head into Christmas and holiday mode, and for those that missed out at auctions recently, they are preparing themselves for stronger bidding in the new year.”