Sydney posts 70 per cent auction clearance rate off large volume of sales

Higher-priced properties in some pockets of Sydney sold for strong prices at the weekend as the city posted a better-than-expected auction clearance rate off a big volume of sales.  

Saturday’s auction market, with 796 properties reported as going under the hammer, , was the first significant test of buyer sentiment of the year. The Domain Group posted a metropolitan clearance rate of 70 per cent from 558 reported results, up on the 67.5 per cent clearance rate from 319 auctions recorded on the previous weekend.

The solid result was an indication that the market may be rebounding after the small falls in median prices and the lacklustre, 50 per cent clearance rates seen in the second half of last year.

At the weekend, the prime real estate markets of the eastern suburbs, the inner west and the lower and upper north shore saw robust prices paid by buyers, especially in the $2 million-plus bracket. 

In Bronte, a dated three-bedroom house 57 Hewlett Street, Bronte, sold before auction for $4.6 million through Phillips Pantzer Donnelley. The house, which last changed hands in late-2007 for $2.6 million, has ocean views and direct pathway access to Bronte Park.

The home at 57 Hewlett Street in Bronte sold for $4.6 million. Photo: Supplied

Phillips Pantzer Donnelley also sold a four-level contemporary home with sweeping water views at 4 Bayview Street, Bronte, for $7.5 million. The property also sold prior to auction and was the most expensive sale reported on Saturday.   

Of the six homes in Bronte scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday, five sold prior while one passed in at auction on the day.

In the inner-west, a five-bedroom house on a 967-square-metre block at 29 Cotswold Road, Strathfield, sold at auction for $4,810,000 through Strathfield Partners.

29 Cotswold Road in Strathfield. Photo: Supplied

There were a reasonable number of pass-in results at auctions, particularly in the $1.5 million to $3 million band.

Wayne Blackley, of Blackleys Estate Agents, said he was confident of concluding a sale over the weekend of a house he auctioned at 63 Woodbine Street, North Balgowlah.

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An owner-occupier had bid $1.59 million for the three-bedroom home on Saturday, he added. It was passed in at this level, against a guide price of $1.6 million.

Mr Blackley said two encouraging signs for this year’s market were that more family homes were being listed compared to a year ago and the large number of “new faces” attending auctions and open houses.

He said 18 months ago, there were frequently just two houses available for sale at any one time in suburbs such as Seaforth, North Balgowlah and Manly; and yet there were the same amount of buyers that were currently in the market.

“Now there is on average eight houses available in the suburbs,” Mr Blackley said.

“People have more variety to look at, and there is not quite the desperation to buy that we have seen. But there are different tiers to the market in different places.”

He said North Shore properties that had cost $900,000 four years ago had risen to $1.65 million to $1.7 million in 2017, but their prices had since eased down by about $50,000.

“But the more expensive properties, I think, are getting better prices. And in the mid-market – around $2.5 million – there have been more properties for people to look at, so the $2.5 million houses have softened a little bit to the $2.3 million and $2.4 million mark.”

Sydney’s real estate scene remains highly fragmented. Most prospective buyers are targeting a single property in a particular street or pocket of a neighbourhood and their personalised approach to buying can produce ups and downs in the prices paid.

113 Cardigan Street in Stanmore sold on Thursday for $2.21 million. Photo: Supplied

For example, Cobden & Hayson’s Jonathan Hammond last Thursday sold a single-fronted cottage with no car parking at 113 Cardigan Street St, Stanmore, for $2.21 million. A year ago, larger and superior double-fronted houses in the same street, one of the suburb’s most prized, were selling for around $2.2 million.

Buyer’s agent Rich Harvey, from propertybuyer.com.au, said properties in the outer areas of the western suburbs, the north and southwest had slipped in price but well-located real estate would maintain its value over the long-term.

“The prime areas are still performing quite well, however there has been a general slowdown,” he said.

He said sales results were often patchy with quite a few properties selling at or just slightly above their guide price.

“The big difference is the pace at which we are exchanging and the volume of properties going to auction,” Mr Harvey said.

“Properties were being sold within 20 days or even a week and now we are noticing the days on market starting to trend upwards. The buyers that are doing their homework are seeing some good opportunities but it’s not bargain territory. It’s not as if the vultures are gathering or that it’s a bloodbath out there. It is just a natural turn in the cycle and what you’d expect in Sydney: a levelling off of demand.”

The Agency’s Shane Slater saw some pass-in results on the north shore at the weekend and lower bidder participation rates at auctions.

He believes the current state of play is tossing up buying opportunities. “It is the old Sydney mentality of safety in numbers: everyone buys at the same time and then stops at the same time,” Mr Slater noted. “But it is in that in-between period in the market that you can get some good buys.”

The cheapest property sold in Sydney at the weekend was unit 27/128-132 Woodville Road, Merrylands. It fetched $371,000 through Starr Partners Merrylands.