THE auction method of sale continues to defy the headlines and produce outstanding results for sellers. Exclusive Ray White data shows that today’s auction sellers across Australia received on average more than 10 per cent more for their property under the hammer, than by accepting the highest prior offer.
The owners of this Darlinghurst renovator took their property to auction today in inner city Sydney and it sold for 30.8 per cent more than the highest offer prior at $1.365 million.
Ray White Touma Group principal Charles Touma said there were still cracking auctions taking place in the market, but he sensed buyers were fearful of overpaying.
Australasia’s largest real estate group reported a 63 per cent preliminary national clearance rate based on 207 properties that went under the hammer today. The same Saturday last year had a 75 per cent clearance rate.
There were an average of 3.6 registered bidders per auction, with 2.4 actively bidding.
Taking out the top spot for the capital cities today was Melbourne, which achieved a 75 per cent clearance rate.
The highest sale of the day was a beautifully renovated Queenslander home at 14 Inverness Street in Ascot, which sold under the hammer for $3,650,000 through Ray White New Farm’s Matt Lancashire and Annette Richards.
Feedback from agents and auctioneers across the country indicated the auction method was far and away the best format to sell a property to a somewhat apprehensive marketplace.
“There is no better way to get a bearing of a property value than taking it to auction; in a slowing market, private sales often sit stagnant for a longer period of time,” Ashley Weston from Ray White Frankston said.
In the latest Ray White economic update, William Clark said the luxury home market was still riding high.
“Sydney has taken up the lion’s share of luxury sales in the last 12 months, with Mosman the most frequent suburb amongst these sales with 222 sales in the last year. Units, while recording more subdued numbers, have seen extraordinary growth in this price bracket, with frequent sales from Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.”
SYDNEY
Ray White New South Wales chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said despite the winter school holidays, buyers were still turning up looking to secure their home.
“The Sydney market is currently reflective of the mid-winter time of year that we are in,” Mr Pattaro said.
“Despite the predictions of doom and gloom, we are finding that buyers have already factored in current and future interest rate rises, which is reflected in the prices they are offering.
“The good news is that sellers in the market want to sell, and are listening closely to how the market is performing,” he said.
10 Mercury Street, Beverly Hills
Ray White Riverwood – Adison Cao and Jaden Cheng
Sold under the hammer for $2,220,000
Five registered bidders
Auctioneer: Tim Snell – Ray White (pictured above)
“I can’t speak highly enough of the auction method; it creates huge competition and we achieved a fantastic result for our client today,” Mr Cao said.
“The market feedback prior to the auction was around $1.8 million – $1.9 million. At the moment, sellers want commitment more than anything, which is why they are still choosing to take their property to auction,” he said.
Mr Cao said there were plenty of onlookers and neighbours at the auction today, but the ultimate winning bidder was a young family who currently live only 100 metres away.
“Instead of knocking down their current property and rebuilding, they decided to buy something that was ready to move in.”
192 Crown Street, Darlinghurst(pictured above)
Ray White Touma Group – Charles Touma and Cadan Hickey
Sold under the hammer for $1,365,000
Five registered bidders, two active
The ‘renovators delight’ in the ever-popular Darlinghurst was launched to market after the seller decided to offload instead of renovating.
“The two active bidders were both aggressive in their strategy today, starting at $1 million and moving up rapidly in $25,000 increments,” Mr Touma said.
The underbidder, an investor from neighbouring Paddington, was beaten out by a young professional gentleman from the northern suburbs of Sydney.
“The winning bidder and his family have some history in renovating and were wanting to get their foot in the door at Darlinghurst,” he said.
MELBOURNE
Despite the chill in Melbourne today, buyers and crowds alike still turned up in force for another solid week of auction volume for the Ray White.
Ray White Victoria Chief Auctioneer Matthew Condon said the preliminary data from the Ray White group revealed an average of over three confirmed bidders per auction across Victoria.
“Sellers that choose to meet the market during their campaign are being rewarded with more inspections, bidders and ultimately a good result on auction day,” he said.
“Although it was noticeable that buyers were hesitant to proactively start and engage immediately at auction, it is evident that the more bidders and competition a property has, the more confidence buyers have to purchase. This social proof is a key element to achieving a premium price at auction.
“Also, during the auction when properties are announced ‘on the market’ we are continuing to see competition and momentum past that point the majority of the time.”
21 Peter Chance Cres, Langwarrin (happy sellers pictured above)
Ray White Frankston – Ashley Weston and Jessica Page
Sold under the hammer for $1,995,000 ($145,000 above reserve)
Five registered bidders, three active
Auctioneer: Matthew Condon, Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer
Mr Weston said the bidding opened at $1.65 million and it was rapid fire up to $1.9 million.
“The winning buyer was from nearby Mount Eliza; she is retired and loved the pool and open spaces for her grandchildren.”
Mr Weston said quality properties in blue chip locations are still selling very well, and that styling and renovating is really important.
“Less desirable homes are sitting on the market a little bit longer, but using the auction method is a really good way to understand what the value is,” he said.
88 May St, Altona North (happy buyers and sellers pictured above)
Ray White Altona – Richard Anile and Anthony Anile
Sold under the hammer for $1,100,000 ($25,000 above reserve)
Four register bidders, all active
This family home of 60 years was on a 600sqm corner block, making it ripe for development opportunities.
“The winning bidder was a local developer who plans to build premium townhouses,” Richard Anile said.
“The sellers of the deceased estate were happy with the final result,”
Mr Anile said that the market is a little more quiet which is to be expected, as interest rate rises can tend to spook buyers in the short term.
“Eventually people realise that the transaction of property must go on,” he said.
2 Gala Supreme Close, Mordialloc(happy buyers pictured above)
Ray White Cheltenham – Kevin Chokshi and Elise Russell
Sold under the hammer for $1,162,500 ($162,500 above reserve)
Two registered bidders, both active
Auctioneer: Kevin Chokshi, Ray White
“The winning bidder was a midwife who had been looking at renovating her current home, but decided that costs, time and effort didn’t stack up,” Mr Chokshi said.
“We are finding that because of rising building costs, people are willing to pay a little more for a nicely renovated home that is ready to move into.”
Mr Chokshi said the market had been softer, and there were definitely some nerves with buyers and sellers, but good quality homes like this one were still doing well.
The sellers are retiring to Queensland.
10 Gully Cres, Belgrave(happy buyers pictured above)
Ray White Ferntree Gully – Matthew George and Paul Scott
Sold for under the hammer for $715,000
Six registered bidders, all active
Mr George said the buyer came from Collingwood and the seller was a young female who was selling her apartment and wanting more space and to live in the hills.
“It is opposite a beautiful national park, with such beautiful scenery. We have a great clearance rate in our office, but we do need vendors to be realistic.” The campaign attracted 90 groups of buyers.
BRISBANE
Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said nervous sellers were taking offers prior to auction.
“Buyers are still putting their best food forward but are practising caution” Mr Croft said.
“We are also seeing strong participation from bidders at auction. I am particularly noticing a lot of strength in Brisbane’s market on the southside,” he said.
14 Inverness Street, Ascot(pictured above)
Ray White New Farm – Matt Lancashire and Annette Richards
Sold under the hammer for $3,650,000
Five registered bidders, four active
Auctioneer: Haesley Cush, Ray White
The top auction sale nationally was this stunning renovated Queenslander. It was a long-term family home for the sellers who were moving on after becoming empty nesters.
“The auction was conducted at our Ray White New Farm in-room auctions, with strong bidding between those vying for the home,” Mr Cush said.
“There was a mix of buyers, with some interstate, but the winning bidders were a local family. The auction paused at $3.44m and after negotiations was announced on the market.”
Mr Cush said the buyers appreciated the transparency of the auction process.
“There’s actually a huge number of buyers in the market at the moment, and they are just trying to establish pricing, which is one of the benefits of an auction.”
Ray White Rochedale – Ken Chin and Francois Satiowijaya
Sold under the hammer for $870,000 (above reserve by $120,000)
18 registered bidders, five active
Auctioneer – Phill Broom, Ray White
“The auction was absolutely brilliant, the highest price for a townhouse in this complex previously was $735,000,” Mr Chin said.
“We made sure that our listing stood out like a sore thumb! The sellers invested in beautiful styling, a very strong strategic marketing campaign.
The sellers were investors interstate and even though the market had started shifting, they felt as though the time was right to capitalise.
“The Carindale area is quite sought after now on the southside, with two freeways on each side and two Westfield shopping centres on the doorstep,” Mr Chin said.
The sellers were a local family from neighbouring suburb, Mount Gravatt.
26/18 Chelsea Avenue, Broadbeach
Ray White Burleigh Group – Wayne Evans
Sold under the hammer for $1,475,000
Six registered, four active
This auction was part of Ray White Burleigh Group’s first in-room event at their new premises, with all six bidders tuning in online.
“Out of the six bidders, four of them were interstate which shows the strong demand here on the Gold Coast,” Mr Evans said.
The winning bidders were from Melbourne. The sellers live overseas and the unit used the apartment as a holiday home.
“We had 75 groups through the open homes over three weeks, and the sellers were wrapped because they bought it for $1.2 million only nine months ago,” he said.
ADELAIDE
Ray White South Australia and Northern Territory chief auctioneer John Morris said while there may be a lot of talk of doom and gloom, South Australia is faring somewhat better than interstate counterparts.
“We have had an average of approximately five registered bidders per auction. One metric that I have found very interesting is the auction day clearance rate in South Australia,” he said.
“Of the 180 auctions in South Australia last week, 54 of them were Ray White auctions with a collective clearance rate of 69 per cent but, the Ray White clearance rate was 74 per cent.
“Not only are we the market leaders in volume, but we also are the leaders in providing service and getting good results.”
Ray White Norwood – Nik Diamond and Nik Ilic
Sold under the hammer for $747,000
Eight registered bidders, four active
Auctioneer – George Kargiotis, Ray White
The winning bidders (pictured above) of the modern Northfield house were a local family up-sizing from nearby Woodville.
Nik Diamond said while they have been bracing for a shift in the market, he hasn’t yet seen the effects in his own transactions.
“Northfield is an example of a suburb where there is great demand, particularly from young families,” he said.
45 First Avenue, Payneham South(pictured above)
Ray White Norwood – Derek Lee and Damien Fong
Sold under the hammer for $1,100,000
Seven registered bidders and five active
Mr Lee said the bidding crept up close to reserve and then stalled which resulted in negotiations. “While we were negotiating, a new bidder registered and took out the top spot,” he said.
“The buyer lives across the road and they bought it for their parents. The sellers were a young family who decided to upsize nearby for their growing family.”
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