A great reno no doubt added to the excitement of this inner-west sale. Catch all the action from Domain's live auction coverage.
The owners of a two-bedroom Marrickville terrace were very nervous ahead of the auction of their home on Saturday.
Not only was the property located on a busy road directly under the the flight path, but the owners knew they would be competing with almost 1000 other sellers on the busiest auction day of the year.
That made it all the more sweet when the 206-square-metre property at 235 Victoria Street sold $50,000 over reserve, for $1.3 million.
Bidders gather for the auction at 235 Victoria Road, Marrickville. Photo: Kirk Gilmour
Domain Group had collected 645 auction results by Saturday evening and put the clearance rate at 78.8 per cent.
“The remarkable Sydney home auction market didn’t miss a beat with another strong clearance rate despite the highest offering of the year,” Domain Group chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson said.
Among Sydney’s happy vendors were Jacki and Brad Biddleston, with 22-month-old daughter Mia, who hadn’t even planned any celebrations as they thought their Marrickville terrace wasn’t even going to sell.
The house at 235 Victoria Street, Marrickville, was one of almost 1000 properties scheduled to go to auction on Saturday. Photo: Supplied
“The busy road and flight noise was worrying me,” said Mrs Biddleston.
But the couple were confident that the changing neighbourhood was in high demand.
“I’ve been here for 12 years and when I first moved in there were no coffee shops, it was more industrial; this place is way hipster now,” Mr Biddleston said.
Auctioneer Ricky Briggs prepares to drop the hammer. Photo: Kirk Gilmour
“There are cafes, micro-breweries, wine bars and clubs.”
There was a crowd of 35 at the auction and six parties registered to bid.
Briggs Auction Services auctioneer Ricky Briggs rejected a first offer of $800,000 from a Redfern professional couple. He said it was too far below the $1.2 million price guide. The couple oblige and revised their bid to $850,000.
There were five active bidders amongst the crowd of about 35 that gathered for the auction. Photo: Kirk Gilmour
The other four active bidders were from Petersham, Waterloo, Marrickville and Gordon.
It seemed the Waterloo couple had the auction in the bag at $1,245,000 but the Gordon couple came over the top with a bullish $1.27 million first bid, which Mr Briggs described as “flame-throwing”. The Waterloo couple tried their luck with an extra $10,000, but the Gordon couple replied with a final $1.3 million bid and the hammer fell.
The winning couple, who wished to remain anonymous, only inspected the property for the first time the day before the auction.
After bidding at three other auctions in the past three weeks, they were relieved to have secured a new home.
“We were a bit concerned about the flight and traffic noise but hoping that as the suburb evolves, it will alleviate the noise and we’re holding out for that.”
The pair said they were fed up with the commute from Gordon.
Selling agent Nicholas Viewey, co-director of Viewey Real Estate, said he too was anxious ahead of the auction with the interested parties playing their cards close to their chests.
“I had four potential buyers confirm they would register in the week leading up to the auction but six turned up on the day,” he said.
“I think they realised stock levels are low and this is their last shot to buy a house and move in before going into the new year.
“Marrickville has been seeing new cafes, restaurants and developments recently. A lot of the buyers that were first searching in Newtown are now looking in Marrickville because it’s better value.”
He said a two-bedroom property on the same road sold for $1.04 million in August this year, but that had no parking.
The Biddlestons are now planning to move to the northern beaches.
“We’ve had our party time and we will miss the convenience,” said Mr Biddleston.
“We both grew up by the beach so we wanted the same for our daughter.”