An unliveable three-bedroom property in Five Dock attracted a $5,016,000 payday for its vendors, after seven bidders fought over the home on Saturday.
The home at 31 Norman Street was guided at $3.75 million had only changed hands twice since the 1920s.
Bidding opened at $3.5 million, and buyers placed bids of $100,000 and $50,000 bar one bidder who rounded up to the nearest even number. It quickly hit the market at $4 million, the reserve, then the rest of the auction was fought out by three parties until it sold for a whopping $1,016,000 more than its reserve.
McGrath Strathfield selling agent Arthur Syrios said the property was completely dilapidated and much worse than the photos showed. He said the home had odd smells and remnants of past fires.
“If you actually see what it is, it’s crazy … It’s shocking inside, you need a bulldozer … the big hype around it is that it’s only a land proposition.
“It is one of the quietest and best streets in Five Dock, because you’re so close to everything, but you’re also in such a peaceful location,” Syrios revealed.
31 Norman Street attracted a big payday for its vendors. Credit: McGrath
The property was one of 908 scheduled auctions in Sydney on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.6 per cent from 549 reported results, while 125 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The buyer will try to rejuvenate it and doesn’t plan to knock it down immediately.
The most expensive auction sale on Saturday was in Strathfield, one of Sydney’s more well-heeled middle ring suburbs. A five-bedroom, six-bathroom house at 18 Mintaro Avenue sold for $5.8 million to a buyer from Huntley’s Point.
Six registered to bid and four made offers on the luxuriously built two-storey, double-brick home. Bidding opened at $4,000,990 and for sold $400,000 above its $5.4 million reserve.
“The increments were all over the shop … it started going up in $10,000s and people were knocking each other out in the $100,000s then slowed down to $50,000s and some $20,000s,” said McGrath Strathfield selling agent Tarun Sethi.
He had guided the property at $4.85 million. The house last sold for $2.5 million in 2017, records show.
An apartment in Redfern with soaring ceilings in a warehouse-style conversion drew four registrations, three of them being first-home buyers. Two bid on the unit located at 301/199 Regent Street, a building that was once a shopping centre in the 1990s.
Bidding opened with a bid of $1 million, below the $1.1 millon guide. Bidding was rapid and increments ranged from $50,000 to $5000. It sold to a first home buyer for $1,265,000, $65,000 more than its $1.2 million reserve.
Raine & Horne Newtown selling agent Duncan Gordon said the buyers of the two-bedroom unit were looking forward to the opening of nearby Waterloo station.
The facilities were also a major drawcard.
“It’s got a rooftop pool, big barbecue area, you’ve got a gym that would match Fitness First,” said Gordon.
The vendor, who was ecstatic with the results, had lived there for 15 years. The apartment last traded for $391,500 in 2008, records show.
In Burwood, a home that was burnt down in a fatal house fire sold for $2,750,000.
Twenty-two people registered; a mix of builders, renovators and owner-occupiers. Seven bid on the property at 89 Fitzroy Street, which was guided at $2 million to $2.2 million.
Bidding opened at $2 million and buyers used increments ranging between $100,000 and $10,000. It sold for $750,000 more than its reserve.
LJ Hooker Burwood selling agent Joe Murania said the guide was based on the median land value in Burwood. The buyer is keen to rebuild and create his forever home to live in.
LJ Hooker Group’s Head of Research, Mathew Tiller, said the weekend clearance rate of 67.6 per cent was reflected in strong turnouts at open homes and auctions.
Tiller said the results in Burwood and Five Dock were indicative of strong buyer demand.
“People are buying properties that … do need to be knocked down. Because there’s not that supply in the market at the moment.
“The lack of newly built supply coming into the market and the lack of listings as well is driving that lack of choice for buyers.”