Auction market powers ahead

Today, the Ray White Group recorded an 68 per cent clearance rate, and a healthy 4.2 registered bidders and 2.8 active bidders per auction on average.

According to NurtureCloud, over the last seven days the leading group had more than 31,000 buyers attend inspections across the country with the bulk of them visiting an open home today. No. 4 Chatham St, Inglewood attracted the highest number of open home attendees this week at 60. The campaign is being managed by Matt Seabrook and Emily Warden of Ray White Inner North in Perth.

The top auction sale of the day went to Perth as Ray White Dalkeith Claremont principal Vivien Yap closed the deal on 30 Browne Ave, Dalkeith for $6.475 million.

Ray White Norwood agent Mannas Chan in Adelaide had the highest number of registered bidders, attracting 17 buyers to register for his 21 Yutara Ave, Ingle Farm auction today. The corner block sold for $775,000.

The action will continue tomorrow on the Sunshine Coast as the Ray White Coastal Living Network takes 86 properties to auction for their ninth annual auction event.

Over the past nine years, the annual auction event has consistently delivered exceptional results. With 438 properties sold, generating $271 million in sales and boasting a 96 per cent success rate, the event stands as a testament to the power of auctions in achieving premium prices.

“We take great pride in being able to offer our sellers an unparalleled selling experience, with 86 campaigns all culminating to auction on September 22, the marketing scale and reach that this program offers is unparalleled on the Sunshine Coast,” Dan Sowden, auctioneer and director of Ray White Maroochydore and Buderim said.

Piquing the interest of serious investors and Sunshine Coast developers is a whole block of eight flats in Nambour. With a recent appraisal projecting potential returns of $187,000 to $208,000 per annum, 12-14 Carroll Street, Nambour is expected to generate a serious auction frenzy.

The Ray White Coastal Living Network is made up of leading Ray White offices in Maroochydore, Buderim, Mooloolaba, Kawana Waters, and Nambour.

Ray White NSW | ACT head of auctions Perry Edmondson-Clark said it was another strong spring weekend of volume for the group with 205 scheduled auctions across Ray White New South Wales today.

“Early data shows a consistent clearance rate and number of bidders, we are certainly continuing to see buyers dig their heels in around their perceived market value,” he said.

“Whether this be due to cost-of-living pressures, uncertainty around interest rates or just the availability of other options in the market one thing is certain, sellers should give serious consideration to auction day offers.”

14 Redfield Rd, East Killara

• Sold for $2.711 million - $111,000 above reserve

• Four registered and four active bidders

• Agent: Jessica Cao and Stephanie Hearne (pictured above)

• Ray White Upper North Shore

“The auction was competitive with the bidding starting at $2.4 million. The buyers were a young couple with a new baby who had been looking for a while,” Ms Cao said.

“The house was popular because it’s an entry level home for the area and it’s been fully renovated. But there’s no backyard, it’s not like a typical north shore home but that made it more affordable for buyers looking to get into the area.

“The Upper North Shore market is pretty healthy at the moment. There’s lots of new stock but there are also lots of buyers, we saw that today with the four registered bidders all actively participating.

“There are lots of deals being done so sellers just need to listen to the market.”

147 Gloucester Rd, Hurstville

• Sold for $2.73 million

• Eight registered and four active bidders

• Agents: Michael Curtis and Allen Yan

• Ray White Hurstville

"The property sold well over reserve after a very busy campaign,” Mr Curtis said.

"The buyer was a developer planning to build two detached homes on the site.

"Most of the interested parties were developer-investors, all looking at the potential of the block.

"Bidding kicked off at $2 million, and while most pulled out around $2.4 million, two bidders took it all the way to the sale price. Neither of them wanted to let it go.

"Every auction we’ve had recently has been strong. We’re averaging between six to eight registered bidders.

"New listings are slowing down a bit in the area at the moment, but the demand is still there."

72 Victoria Rd, Rooty Hill

• Sold for $1.136 million - $186,000 above reserve

• 15 registered and seven active bidders

• Agents: Peter Diamantidis and Meshel Bahnam

• Ray White Diamantidis Group

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White NSW/ACT

"The purchasers are looking to demolish the existing home and rebuild their dream family home on the site. It’s a great block with a lot of potential, which really attracted buyers,” Mr Diamantidis said.

"It was a busy campaign, with over 25 contracts issued. We had some strong offers before auction day, but we were confident running it to auction was the right strategy.

"Bidding started at $800,000, and it really picked up from there. The house itself clearly needed to be demolished. Most were looking to subdivide or build two homes on the lot, renovation wasn’t really on anyone's mind.

"The market has been really busy. We’ve been breaking suburb records, and there's more stock than this time last year. We’re running a lot of properties through the auction process to keep things moving."

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said there were a total of 254 auctions across Victoria this week for the Ray White network, with volume steadily increasing as we move deeper into spring.

“Off the back of an interest rate cut in the USA, there's much speculation and anticipation about what the Reserve Bank of Australia will do when they meet this coming Tuesday, September 24," he said.

“If anything, it has sparked confidence in buyers as we saw the active bidder number jump up to 2.1 on average and a clearance rate of 76.5 per cent.

“There is expected to be a quieter week of auctions next week due to the AFL Grand Final with only 135 scheduled.”

6 Hanlon Close, Mordialloc (buyers pictured above)

• Sold for $1.805 million

• Five registered bidders and four active bidders

• Agents: Greg Brydon (auctioneer) and Emily Hotham

• Ray White Cheltenham

“The auction started at $1.6 million on an opening buyer bid. The buyer didn’t actually know where he wanted to start the bidding so I suggested $1.6 million which he was happy with,” Mr Brydon said.

“He was very fierce in the bidding, it was called on the market at $1.75 million and then two bidders slugged it out until the eventual sale price in $2,000, $5,000 and even $500 bids. Both were local families looking to upsize.

“The good family homes that are well presented and turn key are going really well but any compromised stock is really 50/50. Buyers are more cautious on anything that needs developing based on a number of factors including cost of money and availability of supplies and labour.

“Although, developers are starting to come back because they feel like the market may kick and are wanting to purchase at this level with long settlements and look to sell at the end of 2025 or the start of 2026.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said the obvious theme of the day was sellers accepting offers prior to auction.

“Out of the 11 auctions I had booked for today, five of them sold prior which is a real insight into the current market. Sellers are perhaps identifying trends, seeing opportunities and taking advantage of it but also the buyers as well,” he said.

“Properties between $1 million and $1.3 million really have a nice sweet spot right across Brisbane at the moment and higher registration numbers seem to have come through with that. Also of course, affordable properties are still playing an incredibly important role.

“At the moment, good quality property continues to be highly sought after from people under auction conditions. People are wanting properties that are completed and done, it really does drive registration numbers and plays an important role in their decision making.”

6 Robe St, Newmarket (pictured above)

• Sold for $3.425 million

• Nine registered and three active bidders

• Agents: Brooke Copping and Alistair Macmillan

• Ray White Wilston

• Auctioneer: Mitch Peereboom, Ray White Wilston

“The auction started at $2.3 million then jumped to $2.6 million and kept going up from there to the eventual sale price,” Ms Copping said.

“Interest mainly came from families but we did also have a few couples go through the house.

“The buyers are a couple with two young kids, they are living in Bardon at the moment and wanted to upsize into something already done so they can move straight in.

“They really appreciated the unique architectural design of the home over a stock standard project home build.

“In general, we’re seeing more stock coming onto the market and good quality stock that ticks a lot of boxes - good layout, good space, well finished and in a good location - is in really high demand.”

25A Warmington St, Paddington

• Sold for $3,017,777 million

• Two registered and two active bidders

• Agents: Judi O’Dea and Michael Kleimeyer

• Ray White Paddington

“About seven years ago there was a huge fire on the street and the home was burned down. The sellers then built a brand new home on the block and this was it,” Ms O’Dea said.

“The buyers were a couple with one little boy, they are currently living in St Lucia and have been shopping around with us since March this year. They have looked at a lot of high end properties in the area.”

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said they are seeing results still achieving far higher than the reserve prices, and more than 14 per cent higher than the highest offer prior to auction.

“This morning we woke up to the news that Port Adelaide are not going through to the final and what that possibly means is coach Ken Hinkley might be putting his house up for sale very soon and moving interstate elsewhere, and if he does put his house up for sale and doesn’t go to auction, he is probably missing out on a lot of money,” Mr Morris said.

“Auction clearance rates are still nothing short of astonishing, last week we saw an 84.7 per cent clearance rate and that is in spite of the fact that our bidder numbers have dropped to about 6.6 per auction, from a high of around about eight earlier in the year.”

24 Cassie St, Collinswood

• Sold for $1.73 million - $155,000 above reserve

• Seven registered and four active bidders

• Agents: Stefan Siciliano and Adam Humzy

• Ray White Prospect

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White SA

“The winning bidding lived around the corner with his partner but was on a footy trip on the Yorke Peninsula so he was bidding over the phone. His dad (pictured above left with the seller) attended and was on the phone to the buyer’s partner,” Mr Siciliano said.

“There were both couples and families looking at the property, and they ranged in age. They loved the land size, it’s massive, along with the large living areas. The general location was also fantastic.”

68 Gladstone Ave, Kilburn (pictured at top)

• Sold for $1.46 million - $85,000 above reserve

• 14 registered and three active bidders

• Agents: Marco Lai and Sumit Khatri

• Ray White Adelaide City

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White SA

“The buyers were a local family looking to upsize, they live nearby,” Mr Lai said.

“They’ve been looking for more than six months, they finally found something suitable for them which is move in ready.

“We mainly had families interested in the home which is in a convenient location and a growing suburb.

“The market is good for those houses that are ready to go, I think people are getting sick of doing renovations and are happy to pay more for move in ready properties.

“Bidding started at $1 million and was quite competitive from there, we had more than about 20 bids.”