Bidders out in force on long weekend

Ray White auction market share historically sits at 25 per cent nationally, but over this long weekend in many states, it soared as the leading group’s members continued to work through the King’s Birthday.

The group had 282 auctions scheduled today, with a 73 per cent clearance rate.

Ray White's auction data revealed a strong jump in average registered bidders today to 4.6 and 3.2 average active bidders, both up by 1.0 on a year ago.

Home sellers who took their property to auction today were rewarded with 12.44 per cent more on average than if they had accepted any prior offer received during their campaign.

Auction activity is set to rise next week, with just under 2,100 capital homes currently scheduled for auction, and Ray White members will conduct 652 of them.

The top sale of the day went to the unstoppable auction agent, Jessica Cao of Ray White Upper North Shore who sold 45 Wellington Road, East Lindfield under the hammer for $4.5 million with 12 registered bidders.

Jason Cheung, whose parents sold their family home of 26 years, said Jessica Cao was extremely clear and precise the whole way through.

“We had full transparency from Jessica during the campaign as she updated us after every single open home, and we had confidence during the selling process. My parents are over the moon as the house sold above their expectations. Going to auction really is the best way to sell property,” Mr Cheung said.

The highest number of bidders nationally was once again in Adelaide.

Ray White Prospect agent Blake Bryant signed up 24 bidders at 3 Strathmont Avenue, Gilles Plains which sold under the hammer for $970,000

Sellers Grace and Sam said Blake Bryant achieved an outstanding result for them.

“We were not convinced about going to auction to start with. We were undecided, but Blake explained all the options and we trusted him,” the pair said. ‘It was very nerve wracking but it was an amazing result."

According to NurtureCloud, which tracks Ray White’s open home data, there were 24,952 attendees at open homes across the country today, with the busiest one at 28 Abercrombie St, Oakleigh South in Melbourne. Ray White Oakleigh agent Daniel Paola checked in 63 would be buyers at this busy open today.

Ray White NSW Head of Auctions Dave McMahon said it was a strong King's Birthday long weekend.

“We scheduled 50 per cent fewer auctions than the week prior, but our average registered bidder numbers remained strong at 4.7 with 3.3 active bidders per auction across Sydney," he said.

“The recent interest rate drops continue to increase buyer confidence across all markets. Our team has reported some exceptional results today and our current clearance rate sits at a solid 70 per cent.”

45 Wellington Road, East Lindfield

• Sold under the hammer for $4.5 million
• 12 registered bidders
• Lead agent: Jessica Cao - 0466 877 260
  
  Ray White Upper North Shore

In front of a huge crowd, the unstoppable Jessica Cao of Ray White Upper North Shore sold 45 Wellington Road, East Lindfield to a local family who plan to knock it down and rebuild their dream home.They had a friend at the auction doing the bidding for them.

“We had 12 bidders and half the suburb came out to watch! It was a great auction. Of course we had a lot of people wanting to make prior offers but none of them were accepted as we know the best way to sell a house is at auction. There’s such certainty and social proof in this open and transparent way to sell. Most of my buyers were Chinese, and to be honest auctions are not a thing in China but the method truly is the best way to buy and sell,” Ms Cao said.

The buyer’s representative, who was bidding on behalf of his friends, said the buyers were “so happy with the auction result”.

“It was a very positive experience for them. It's a very transparent way to buy. My friends asked me to do the bidding on their behalf which helps take the stress away and I was happy to help.”

Jason Cheung, whose parents sold their family home of 26 years, said the auction campaign was extremely clear and precise the whole way through.

“We had full transparency from Jessica during the campaign as she updated us after every single open home, and we had confidence during the selling process. My parents are over the moon as the house sold above their expectation. Going to auction really is the best way to sell property,” Mr Cheung said.

“I was hesitant initially but now I have changed my mind. I will use Jessica to sell my own place now! Auction is the best way to go in this market, as it is hard to price property like ours which is a knock down and rebuild, so auction is the only way to go to let the market decide.” His parents are downsizing into a unit in the same area.

12 Carrington Street, Revesby

• Sold under the hammer for $1.385 million

• 5 registered bidders, 4 active bidders

• Lead agent: Abir Eddine - 0410 824 432

• Ray White Revesby

• Auctioneer: Bryce Bevan, Ray White

Seller Ken Jackson said he was thrilled with the result that Abir Eddine managed to achieve today.

“This was our family home, we have owned it for 42 years and raised our family there. My son lives there now as we have some land up near Mudgee. The campaign was great, Abir was easy with and she explained all the pros and cons of going to auction. There’s no downside risk, just have a go.

“It’s stressful as you don't know who is going to turn up on the day but it all worked out well in the end and we are happy with the outcome.”

The buyers were a young family from Georges Hall who are upsizing and planning to keep their current property as an investment.

“We have been looking for around three months. We have attend a lot of open homes and buying this was a good experience. This was the second auction we have been too. It was stressful but we won and we are excited about the future,” said the buyer.

2 Wingate Avenue Eastwood

• Sold under the hammer for $4.010 million

• 6 registered bidders, 4 active bidders

• Lead agent: Tian Hong - 0451 977 781

• Ray White Epping

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

“Feedback during the campaign was $2.5 million to $3 million and this was the most incredible on-site auction I have ever run. The whole crowd broke out into applause when the bidding reached $4 million. There were so many onlookers from the neighbourhood.This house was one of the best in Eastwood. “The sellers were over the moon and the buyers are happy, and the corner block has development potential as well,” Ms Hong said.

“The seller has now bought some land as they want to build a new home.”

65 & 65a Labrador Street, Rooty Hill

• Sold under the hammer for $1,295,000

• 4 registered bidders

• Lead agent: Meshel Bahnam - 0478 664 123

• Ray White United Group

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrell said that with the King's birthday long weekend it was a much quieter week of auction activity following last week's 'monster week' of auctions.

“For the Ray White Group, there were 135 auctions scheduled across the state, as the market braved wintery conditions,” Mr Tyrell said.

“Unlike the weather, the market continued to run hot with a strong clearance rate of 86.9 percent and active bidder numbers increasing to 3.1 on average.

“The low volume of auctions may have proved to be the winning formula for sellers as buyer confidence and competition ramps up.”

270 Neerim Rd, Carnegie

• Sold under the hammer for $1.355 million

• 3 registered bidders

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Josh Hommellhof - 0405 383 294

• Ray White Carnegie

Seller Johann De-Alwis agreed it was a bittersweet sale today of his family home of 53 years.

“Josh has done such an incredible job for me. I first met Josh 20 years ago when I was first thinking of selling and he has stayed in touch with me all these years. He’s a really great bloke and knowledgeable agent. Going to auction was a good way to sell, and I knew I was in good hands and Josh explained the process fully. The strategy they used was really good and they deserve to be praised.”

Mr De-Alwis’ mum bought this 1910 built house at 270 Neerim Rd, Carnegie in 1972.

“We were recent arrivals from Sri Lanka, then Ceylon. We had settled in 1968, after my dad died of a heart attack in 1965 when I was only six. My mum saved all her money and managed to buy this house for us.

“She was a single mum with two little kids and the banks wouldn't loan her any money, so she saved and did it all on her own steam for the equivalent of $14,000.

“It was only later as an adult that I could appreciate the magnitude of what my mum did to move us from Sri Lanka to achieve a better life for my sister and I.”

Mr De-Alwis said his mum was “a resolute and strong woman” who was widowed after only 8 years of marriage.

“She worked at what is now Telstra, in the engineering research and development team as executive assistant.” Sadly his mum died at the age of 77 from ovarian cancer.

“I kept the legacy of the family home until now, so it is a bittersweet sale. The end of an era. Now I will be moving to buy a small home in the quiet town of Trentham, central west of Melbourne, near Daylesford where my sister has a weekender,” he said.

“Josh will also help me also buy an apartment in Carnegie, as I have a lot of social connections here with my classic car club! So I will keep a city pad and have a country retreat."

As Johann De-Alwis has negotiated a six month settlement with the developer who bought his house, that’s plenty of time to organise all his classic car memorabilia and find somewhere to house his beloved classic sky blue 1964 Studebaker hawk car.

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said the Brisbane market has continued its run of strength, post the election.

“No question around it, we've seen a rise in registered bidder numbers to in excess of five active bidder numbers and our clearance rates are up over 70 per cent across Brisbane. And looks like that trend, and that theme continued today.

“Personally, for me I sold 4 Cowangah Street, Jindalee for lead agent Lachlan Humble and the team at Ray White Centenary, with five registered bidders selling under the hammer for $820,000,” he said.

“Since the election, clearance rates have soared again, personally I am sitting at just over 75 per cent so everything indicates at the moment that that trend is looking to continue. Good times here in Brisbane at the moment, while the stock levels remain low.”

5 Bloxsom St Kedon

• Sold under the hammer for $2.2 million

• 2 registered bidders, 2 active bidders

• Lead agent: Caleb Mayberry - 0414 715 101

• Ray White Ascot

• Auctioneer: Phil Parker

Caleb Mayberry had been working with his seller, Andrew Bourner, for more than two years.

“My seller was a first time developer and we worked with him during the design process to make sure what he was building was in hot demand,” Mr Bourner said.

“We had more than 40 groups through the property, all keen on this brand new home.

“The house backs onto a cemetery, so you could say it’s a dead quiet neighbourhood!”

“But seriously, this is actually a very family friendly coveted enclave, close to good schools.

“Andrew engaged me two years ago and we worked through the design process together so he could deliver something that ticked all the boxes.”

Seller and first time house developer Andrew Bourner, who works in events, said Caleb Mayberry had been with them on the journey for a long time.

“Caleb had been with us since before day one as our adviser. We bought the original house in 2014, and we knocked it over last September to build the new house," Mr Bourner said.

“In fact, we didn't demolish the house, we sold it to some people who moved it to Toowoomba to live in, and that makes us really happy.

“Our builder, Resi Homes, based in Maroochydore, was very experienced in working with overland water. The design they came up with was perfect for our block, as part of the floor had to be raised but it doesn't look stupid like so many which get raised up on high stilts.”

“We cannot thank Caleb and Phil Parker enough for their work here, they are both so experienced and professional.

“The auction was not super stressful for us, we knew it was one tactic and if we had not sold them we could just move it to a private treaty. But we did sell, and it’s now unconditional at the fall of the hammer!

"We know Ray White knows how to run auctions and this has definitely yielded more of a result than if we had sold ‘by offers’.”

4 Ellis St, Teneriffe

• Sold under the hammer for $4.210 million

• 7 registered bidders, 2 active bidders

• Lead agent: Annette Richards - 0433 100 433

• Ray White Collective

• Auctioneer: Haesley Cush

Mr Cush said the bidding opened at $4.010 million, and the paused and the buyer increased their bid to $4.175 million. “The auction continued with another bidder in $1000 bids and the original bidder employed a strategy of larger chunkier bids and the house sold for $4.210 million.”

37 Barmore Street, Tarragindi

• Sold under the hammer for $1.6 million

• 14 registered bidders

• Lead agent: Darren Bonehill - 0499 299 299

• Ray White AKG

The buyers were ecstatic when they bought the property. “We have been looking for six months in Tarragindi and this was the perfect block for a knock down to build our family home,” the buyers said. Pictured above are the sellers and the AKG agents.

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said that not even the freezing cold wind and rain could hold the buyers at bay at auction today.

“Even a long weekend didn't stop the action. No one could have predicted that this weather would be like it was. But if they did, they'd say, do not go to auction and usually nobody turns up in that kind of weather. Well, nobody could be more wrong,” Mr Morris said.

“We've had incredible numbers. I had an auction today with 24 registered bidders and I had to hold the auction inside because there were not enough umbrellas to go around to keep everyone dry. We've got buyers turning up in droves, regardless of the weather and regardless of the long weekend.

“We've got sellers celebrating right after auction with great results being achieved by all of those agents who have decided that a long, long weekend does not stop the buyers from turning up the torrential rain does not stop the buyers from turning up at auction.”

3 Strathmont Avenue, Gilles Plains

• Sold under the hammer for $970,000

• 24 registered bidders, 7 active bidders

• Lead agent: Blake Bryant - 0476 957 176

• Ray White Prospect

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White

Sellers Grace and Sam said Blake Bryant achieved an outstanding result for them.

“We were not convinced about going to auction to start with. We were undecided, but Blake explained all the options and we trusted him,” the pair said.

‘It was very nerve wracking but it was an amazing result.

“It was much more than we could have ever expected.

“We knew we were in good hands, and we let the experts do their job but they kept us informed every step of the way.

“They explained every step in the auction process and Blake never stopped working. He kept us in the loop and the marketing was great. Blake even gave us guidance on the presentation of our home and he ran a lot of open homes and met a lot of buyers.”

2/12 Douglas Ave, Hillcrest

• Sold under the hammer for $755,000

• 6 registered bidders, 6 active bidders

• Lead agent: Stefan Siciliano - 0403 171 489

• Ray White Prospect

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White