Mid-winter market on fire

Ray White NSW Head of Auctions Perry Edmondson-Clark said volume continued to show signs of increasing in the lead up to spring, with 131 auctions scheduled across New South Wales today. “There was plenty of positive activity across the market and the interest rate decision this week certainly helped buyers remain consistent across all segments of the market,” he said. “As stock continues to rise, sellers are reminded if you are considering selling now is a great time to come on the market.”

41 Robertson Rd, Centennial Park

• Sold under the hammer $7.8 million

• 3 registered bidders, 2 active bidders

• Ray White Centennial Park

• Lead agent: Dean Jarman - 0414 544 764

The top auction sale of the day went to Dean Jarman of Ray White Centennial Park who sold this very rare old home at 41 Robertson Rd, Centennial Park in a dress circle location.

Newcourt, is an historic parkland home, in one of Sydney's tightest held settings.

The original home was designed by Walter Burley Griffin & J. Burcham Clamp, and is one of only two examples of their architecture in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

Mr Jarman said the home was offered for the first time in 62 years.

“The house has grand dimensions and is a full-brick construction with high ornate ceilings and several period details throughout,” he said.

“The house is just moments from the CBD and beaches in a blue-ribbon location.

“It had been in the same family for 62 years and a young family from the Sutherland Shire had bought it to make it their home.”

In front of a large crowd of 80 people in the backyard, the house sold for $7.8 million with two active bidders. “It was hard to read the campaign as the buyers kept their cards close to their chests but at the end everyone was happy. Both buyers and sellers shared a celebratory glass of champagne.”

5/1 Franklin Road. Cherrybrook

• Sold under the hammer for $1.440 million

• 5 registered bidders, 2 active bidders

• Ray White Lower North Shore

• Lead agent: Mitchell Hann - 0424 484 119

Mr Hann said it was a busy campaign for this three bedroom single level brick villa with 61 buyer inspections. “My sellers have bought locally and are up-sizing to a larger family home, while the buyers are downsizing locally. The buyers (pictured above) have been living in the area for the last 30 years and have all their family and friends and love the location and community.”

13 Peter Street, Baulkham Hills

• Sold under the hammer $1,735,000

• 3 registered bidders, 3 active bidders

• Ray White Baulkham Hills

• Lead agents Darren Dowd and Zoe Dowd - 0417 230 695

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

This unstoppable father and daughter duo - Darren and Zoe Dowd - have done it again!

Ms Dowd said there were happy tears at the end of the auction from her seller (top right) as it was the end of an era for her and her family.

“My seller is a widow and she and her husband built the home in the 80s so it was a bittersweet sale of a much loved family home. The buyers are a young family from Nepal (top left) and they actually plan to level the block and build their home as it's in a very good school catchment. Everyone is happy with the outcome and it was a textbook auction campaign," Zoe Dowd said.

55 Victory Road, Colebee

• Sold under the hammer for $1.36 million ($160,000 over reserve)

• 8 registered bidders

• Ray White Colebee

• Lead agent Deepak Rochlani - 0405 998 255

• Auctioneer: Perry Edmondson-Clark, Ray White

Ray White Victoria Chief Auctioneer Jeremy Tyrell said spring-like conditions in Melbourne this week were seen with bright blue skies and warmer weather and the real estate market lit up with rates on hold.

“The Reserve Bank’s decision to keep rates on hold, plus further commentary that they will likely stay that way for the remainder of the year, has provided much needed confidence to the market as buyer activity lit up across the network,” he said.

“Despite a slight drop in auction volume with 172 scheduled across the state for the Ray White group, active bidder numbers increased to 3.5 on average and an overall clearance rate of 67.5 per cent. Auction volume is set to soar over the coming weeks as confidence builds.”

5 Egerton Ave, Cheltenham

• Sold under the hammer for $1,131,000

• 5 registered bidders, 5 active bidders

• Ray White Cheltenham

• Lead agent Trevor Bowen - 0417 501 327

• Auctioneer: Greg Brydon, Ray White

Trevor Bowen, one of the hardest working elite agents in the Ray White group as he is also a full-time firefighter, said the home had a tonne of potential and was very popular with first home buyers.

“I say I give my competitors a 48 hour a week head start each week! I have a structured real estate business and I have now started a podcast and doing a weekly roundup,” he said.

“The campaign was busy with more than 60 buyers inspecting the property. There were 71 bids during the auction and it opened at $850,000 and travelled up in $10,000 increments then $5000s and then it sold at $1,131,000,” Mr Bowen said.

“They were all first home buyers and the market feels very balanced at the moment but there are still more buyers than sellers.”

57 Gresswell Rd, Macleod

• Sold under the hammer for $1.455 million

• 2 registered bidders

• Ray White Macleod

• Lead agents Brett Schembri & Ash Lawson - 0402 218 026

• Auctioneer: Jeremy Tyrell, Ray White

63 Whatley St Carrum

• Sold under the hammer for $1,520,000

• 5 active bidders

• Ray White Patterson Lakes

• Lead agent: Genevieve Hill - 0423 094 639

• Auctioneer: Stephen Hill, Ray White

Ms Hill said the buyer was an investor from New South Wales who was on the phone, bidding via Facetime. “It was a huge auction with a big crowd, with lots of locals watching on. My seller is amazing, she is 90 years old (pictured above with Genevieve) and she has downsized and moved into a retirement village, so it was hard to leave but she is happy. It was her family home for nearly 28 years. The original home was a weatherboard built in 1950, then converted to a brick veneer in 1965.” In the last 3 weeks, Ms Hill had some 50 groups through to inspect the property.

17 Veronica St Ferntree Gully

• Sold under the hammer for $639,000

• 8 registered bidders, 6 active bidders

• Ray White Wantirna

• Lead agent / auctioneer - Sam Daryabi - 0466 070 227

In front of a huge crowd of 60 people, Mr Daryabi sold the home to a first home buyer couple. “We had mostly local first home buyers plus one Sydney investor on the phone. The first home buyers are very active again. The house was a deceased estate and we thought a developer would be interested for sure. The young couple are going to renovate and keep it to make it their home.”

27 Croker St, Newport

• Sold under the hammer for $855,000

• 3 registered bidders, 3 active bidders

• Ray White Williamstown

• Lead agent / auctioneer Dean Stanley - 0403 372 922

Mr Roche was out letterbox dropping until 7pm last night and inviting all the neighbours to his 'auction of the year' in Kalinga, one of Brisbane’s smallest and most loved suburbs.

“Kalinga is like Brisbane’s best kept secret and now there’s only one other house for sale here. I would love to sell more homes in Kalinga. It’s such a beautiful suburb full of big family homes with Queenslander character. It’s like a hidden gem,” Mr Roche said, who attracted more than 100 people to watch the auction.

“My sellers are over the moon. They have lived here with their four children for 12 years and they looked all over Ascot and Hendra but they have bought a slightly bigger house just two streets away in Kalinga, they love the suburb that much. They just needed a bit more space.”

Mr Roche said the buyers were a young family who have been looking for a while and narrowly missed out on a few other houses.

“It was so sweet while we were signing the contract, their two young kids were playing in the cubby house in the backyard. They will love it there”

153 Didbrook Street, Robertson

• Sold under the hammer for $2.39 million

• 15 registered bidders

• Ray White AKG

• Lead agent: Roxanne Liu - 0416 139 656

Avi Khan, Principal of Ray White AKG, said the result was an amazing one for the sellers. “The crowd size was nearly 100 people with bidders coming from Gold Coast, north Brisbane and locally. We continue to see buyers coming from all across Queensland to secure properties,” Mr Khan said.

“Our latest NurtureCloud buyer origin report shows that we met buyers from 119 suburbs just in the last 30 days!”

Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said the leading group continued to be the market leader in the state, conducting 40.4 per cent of auctions, and outselling the competition not only week on week, day by day but now, year on year.

“Australia is punching well and truly above its weight in the Olympic medal tally compared to its population and the population of those other countries and I'm seeing similarities in the South Australian auction market,” he said.

“When it comes to population we may pale into comparison with New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland but we are certainly making our mark in the auction arena for those sellers who choose auction as their preferred method.

“This will definitely be putting a smile on their faces at the moment and especially so if they choose Ray White to market their property, then to underpin that statement statewide.

“Last week, according to CoreLogic, our competition cleared 67.6 per cent, meanwhile, in the same timeframe, those that chose a Ray White agent, secured a sale 77.4 per cent of the time.

“We have seven registered bidders per auction, with three active per auction, plus a high bidder activity with more than 95 per cent of all auctions, achieving bids.

18 Sarnia St. Clearview

• Sold under the hammer for $860,000

• 8 registered bidders, 5 active bidders (reserve $820,000)

• Lead agent Dalal Muhieddine - 0478 056 770

• Ray White St Peters

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White

Ms Muhieddine said the campaign had been really busy with more than 60 prospective buyers through the home.

“My sellers are so happy with the result. This was their first home, then they moved out and rented it out. So in the end it was their investment property. The new buyers are a small family, and they are so happy too, they have such a positive attitude despite looking for a while.”

10 Lock Crescent, Pooraka

• Sold under the hammer for $785,000 (reserve $700,000)

• 17 registered bidders, 6 active bidders

• Ray White Para Hills

• Lead agent Jaya Prageeth - 0430 397 878

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White

Mr Prageeth said this incredible result came off the back of another recent sale that he recently completed, just 500m away, which he sold for $985,000.

“This was a very busy campaign with a lot of good interest. The sellers saw the original sale I did nearby and they just told me to get the maximum possible for them as they are moving to buy their dream home in Enfield, some 15 minutes away,” he said.

“My sellers are so happy now. There was a 50:50 mix of first home buyers and investors looking to buy the house today, and there were at least 60 people in the crowd watching on.”

46 Frederick Road Hamilton Hill

• Sold under the hammer for $877,750

• 7 registered bidders, 5 active

• Ray White South Perth

• Leads agent Jannine Blum and Domenic Chiellini - 0403 058 167

• Auctioneer: Mark Whiteman, Ray White

Ms Blum said the winning buyer's dad and sister (pictured above) were bidding on their behalf. “The buyers are currently living in Queensland and will be relocating to Perth,” she said. “The bidding got down to $250 bids, 35 bids in total.” Mr Whiteman said there was not a single cent left available!

235 Charles Street, North Perth

• Sold under the hammer for $1,395,000

• 7 registered bidders, 4 active bidders

• Ray White Inner North

• Lead agent Ben Connor - 0410 425 397

• Auctioneer: Mark Whiteman, Ray White

Mr Connor said he had the unusual situation where four bidders rocked up and registered within 20 minutes of the auction starting. “It was hectic and in the end a developer bought it.

He was keen on it from the start a lot. We had quite a few investors and a couple who wanted to renovate the house and live in it.” The house was a mortgagee sale, and there was a crowd of 30 watching on as the live market action unfolded.