Auction market back in full swing

Ray White NSW | ACT head of auctions Perry Edmondson-Clark said the market has an incredible feel about it across all segments right now.

“First home buyers, upsizers and investors are all in the market to purchase,” Mr Edmondson-Clark said.

“Stock volume is low and buyer activity is high making it a very strong time to come to the market.

“With all eyes turned to the RBA decision on Tuesday we eagerly await the outcome and how the market will react.”

120 Koola Ave, East Killara

• Sold for $3.715 million - $415,000 above reserve

• Four registered and three active bidders

• Agent: Jessica Cao (0466 877 260)

• Ray White Upper North Shore

“The buyers were a family from the Central Coast who wanted to move to Sydney for work and their kids’ education. They had been searching for a year, travelling back and forth from the Central Coast,” agent Jessica Cao said.

“The auction was pretty fast-paced. The bidding kicked off straight away by a young family right on the guide price of $3.1 million. Bidding moved quickly in $50,000 increments before slowing at $3.5 million, then continuing in $6,000 and $8,000 bids."

4 Tristania Pl, West Pymble

• Sold for $3.025 million

• 10 registered bidders

• Lead agent: Thomas Merriman (0401 840 859) and Logan Knight

• Ray White Upper North Shore

“The sellers bought the property from me in 2020 at auction for $1.998 million and haven’t done any renovations in that time,” lead agent Thomas Merriman said.

“We had 107 groups view the house in total with 24 contracts issued in the end. The property sold above the auction price guide of $2.7 million to $2.97 million.

“The buyer grew up in West Pymble and was buying to return to the suburb.”

14 Rush St, Woollahra

• Sold for $2.45 million - the reserve was $1.85 million

• 24 registered and seven active bidders

• Agents: Jack Taylor (0431 310 706) and Randall Kemp

• Ray White Woollahra Group

“The auction started strong at $1.7 million, and there was great energy on the street. We had a crowd of around 100 people, which created a really exciting atmosphere,” lead agent Jack Taylor said.

“The buyers were a couple from up north who purchased the property as an investment. They might look at doing a renovation in the future and potentially move into it down the track.

“This is likely one of the few remaining undeveloped terraces in Woollahra. It was built in the 1900s and there are no records of a previous sale on the property.

“The home was owned by an elderly man who passed away two years ago after having owned it for more than 50 years. Since his passing, the property has remained idle.”

60 Batt St, Sefton

• Sold for $1.412 million - $212,000 above reserve

• 15 registered and four active bidders

• Agents: Jordon Le Breux (0414 585 364) Domenic Boustani

• Ray White Bankstown

• Auctioneer: Tony Roumanous, Ray White Bankstown

“The seller had held the home for 60 odd years so it was an emotional sale,” lead agent Jordon Le Breux said.

“The opening bid was $1 million and we had two really emotional buyers who kept bidding back and forth. The winning bidders were a local couple who had been looking for a while and had been coming to a lot of my open homes.

“The buyers want to renovate the home and move in immediately which relieved the seller and her family who didn’t want to see it knocked down. The two parties met after the auction and both were really happy with the outcome.”

Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said the state’s auction volume was on the rise.

“Auction volume is steadily increasing with 197 scheduled across the state for the Ray White network in Victoria this week, an increase of 35 per cent year-on-year,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“With Valentine’s Day celebrations on Friday, love (for real estate) was definitely in the air as 84 per cent of properties found their perfect match.

“Competition at auction remains healthy with 4.3 bidders attending on average, up nearly 17 per cent compared to the same period last year.

“All attention will be fixed on the Reserve Bank this coming week, as they meet for the first time in 2025 on February 17 and 18.

“The big question everyone is keen to know the answer to is will they cut interest rates?”

54B Lyons St, Carnegie

• Sold for $1.735 million

• Three registered and active bidders

• Lead agent: Josh Hommelhoff (0405 383 294) and Olivia Petrou

• Ray White Carnegie

• Auctioneer: Tom Grieve, Ray White Carnegie

“All the bidders on the property were young couples. They were all pretty much upsizing from their current homes, looking for more space as they take the next step in their property journey,” lead agent Josh Hommelhoff said.

“The auction kicked off at $1.55 million, then the property was officially called on the market at $1.7 million, and from there it went up quickly to the sale price.”

15B Clarendon Ave, Oakleigh South

• Sold for $1.525 million

• Six registered and active bidders

• Agents: Leigh Kelepouris (0422 283 480) and Jie Zhou

• Ray White Oakleigh

• Auctioneer: Jonathon Eaves, Ray White Oakleigh

“This is now the highest townhouse sale for an established property in Oakleigh South,” lead agent Leigh Kelepouris said. “It was called on the market at $1.35 million but bidding still continued until the eventual sale price.

“The sellers (pictured above with the buyers) were a young couple who just finished building their dream home and were selling so they can upsize to their new home. They did this development here six years ago and I sold the property next door for them almost two years ago.

“The purchasers were a young couple buying their first home. The townhouse is unique in that it has three living areas, which you don’t find in most townhouses. It’s also bigger than most standard townhouses in the area.”

18 Peter Dr, Sunshine West

• Sold for $1.365 million

• Five registered and four active bidders

• Agents: Marcus Fregonese (0432 732 495) and Grace Villani

• Ray White Sunshine

“It’s a new suburb record for a family home in Sunshine West. The previous record was set by us in 2023,” lead agent and auctioneer Marcus Fregonese said.

“We had about 120 people in the street. The auction kicked off with a $1 million vendor bid while the sun was still out. Two bidders took it up to $1.2 million, and then the eventual buyer tried a knockout bid of $1.25 million.

“Just before the heavens opened up and we were all drenched, another bidder entered the race. After that, the auction moved pretty quickly, and the house sold within minutes.

“All the bidders were families. We had local families and even some coming from the inner north, which we’re starting to see more of.

“They loved the sheer size of the home – it’s five bedrooms with four living areas and has just been updated with two new bathrooms and a fresh coat of paint.

“In the end, the home went to a local family.”

2/24 Follet Rd, Cheltenham

• Sold for $862,000 - $82,000 above reserve

• Eight registered and five active bidders

• Lead agent: Trevor Bowen (0417 501 327) and Julia Poggi

• Ray White Bayside Group

• Auctioneer: Greg Brydon, Ray White

“There were 66 people in the crowd, which was no surprise as we always attract good turnouts in Cheltenham’s Golden Triangle,” lead agent Trevor Bowen said.

“The first bid came in at $650,000. The buyers were a young couple who had missed out on a few of our homes previously. They were first-home buyers, and their strategy was to wait and start bidding late in the auction. They’ll be a wonderful addition to our neighbourhood.

“The underbidder had also missed out on the neighbouring house, which I sold recently. They were the underbidders on that property as well and have been searching for the past six to eight months.

“The sellers were also a young couple.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said while there have been positive results for the Brisbane's auction market, sellers need to be realistic.

"We saw some really positive results in Brisbane today but what we’re also seeing is a number of vendors holding on to prices,” Mr Croft said.

“That seems to be a real theme just in the last couple of weeks, particularly as we're waiting for Brisbane to find its feet which I think will be by the end of February.

“But for the moment, I still think things are up a little bit in the air, and it just provides that little bit of differentiation between buyers and sellers right now in the marketplace.”

Ray White Collective auction event

• Total sales value: $36,115,500

• Total registered bidders: 52

• Ray White Collective principal and auctioneer Haesley Cush - 0421 057 233

At Ray White Collective’s first auction event of the year, 23 Brisbane properties went under the hammer today while five sold prior to auction. The top sale was 154 Yabba St, Ascot which sold for $5.8 million through agents Josh Brown and Matt Lancashire.

Agent Keenan Smith’s 71 Amy St, Hawthorne listing attracted the highest number of bidders with seven registering to bid on the home which sold for $2.4 million.

“Today was one of the best starts to the Brisbane market, I’ve witnessed in 30 years. We’re optimistic that by Monday afternoon our clearance rate will be in the high 80 per cent range," auctioneer and principal Haesley Cush said.

“We saw prices ranging from the top sale of $5.8 million down to $560,000. We saw the whole market come alive in all price sectors and we also saw activity from local, interstate and international buyers - we had people tuning in from Hong Kong and someone from Chicago.

“We witnessed what the data is now showing, that 2025 has woken up much more excited than 2024 went to sleep.

“There’s excitement in the market, with the anticipation of the RBA cutting interest rates on Tuesday. And even if they don't, there’s still excitement that the peak of interest rates is in the rear view mirror.”

17 Warma St, Stafford Heights

• Sold for $1.38 million

• 12 registered and eight active bidders

• Agent: Ian Cuneo (0416 139 656)

• Ray White Ascot

• Auctioneer: Phil Parker, Ray White

“The buyers were a young couple buying their first home. They had been looking for the past two years,” agent Ian Cuneo said (pictured above with the sellers).

“We had a range of interested buyers during the campaign - there were first home buyers, we had investors, and some builders as well.

“The auction opened at $950,000 and moved up to $1.27 million when we then paused to negotiate which brought it up to $1.3 million. It then went up between an investor and the first home buyer couple.”

19 Ellendale Circuit, Eight Mile Plains

• Sold for $1.751 million

• Seven registered and four active bidders

• Agents: George Yang (0488 199 888) and Yvonne Zheng

• Ray White Sunnybank Hills

• Auctioneer: Phill Broom, Ray White

53 Hill Rd, Runcorn

• Sold for $1.2 million

• 13 registered bidders

• Agents: George Yang (0488 199 888) and Stan Egawa

• Ray White Sunnybank Hills

• Auctioneer: Phill Broom, Ray White

Ray White Sunnybank Hills selling principal George Yang had two standout auctions today, with both selling under the hammer.

“Ellendale Circuit was at a higher price point to Hill Road so we were seeing families interested in it who were buying their second homes or upsizing, whereas the buyers on Hill Road were mainly first home buyers, young couples and smaller families,” Mr Yang said.

“Hill Road also attracted investors as well because it’s at that price point that investors are still happy to consider.

“There’s definitely more choice this year so buyers don’t feel as rushed. The urgency in the market isn’t there anymore but having said that, there are still a lot of motivated buyers.

“As long as they see the right property, they’ll go for it. Today, the sellers were all also ready to meet the market and were more realistic.”

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said Adelaide’s auction market heated up this week with no signs of cooling down.

“Adelaide was officially the hottest city on the planet this week with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees for a few days in a row. The only thing that I would say was hotter than Adelaide’s temperature was the auction market,” Mr Morris said.

“We had incredible numbers as always coming out of this great state but this week has eclipsed everything so far. The preliminary clearance rate for the week is in excess of 80 per cent and average registered bidders is above eight, with about half of those participating.

“It’s not looking like anything can stop the auction market in South Australia. More than 45 per cent of auctions in the state are flying a yellow flag.”

22 Carunta St, Wattle Park

• Sold for $2.38 million - $380,000 above reserve

• Three registered and two active bidders

• Agents: Brandon Pilgrim (0438 807 061) and Nick Griguol

• Ray White Burnside

• Auctioneer: George Kargiotis, Ray White

“We had three very keen buyers heading into the auction, but only two ended up bidding on the day. The third was waiting to jump in later during the bidding, but the competition was so strong that they didn’t get the chance,” lead agent Brandon Pilgrim said.

“It was a really competitive auction with plenty of energy - I’d say there were more than 40 bids in total, which kept the momentum going throughout.

“The buyers (pictured above) were a local family who were thrilled to have secured the property. For the sellers, this was their cherished family home, and they’ve decided to downsize to a smaller property nearby as they move into the next chapter of their lives.”