A three-bedroom art deco apartment in Waverley was snapped up by an upstairs neighbour for $1.68 million at auction on Saturday, giving them ownership of half of the building and garage access.
asserted
apartment → snap → building
As a ground floor unit, the property at 2/4 Kent Street came with one of only two lock-up garages in a boutique block of four.
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property → come → four
The eastern suburbs property was one of 796 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week.
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property → schedule → Sydney
By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 48 per cent from 481 reported results throughout the week, while 177 auctions were withdrawn.
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auctions → record → week
Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
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auctions → withdraw → rate
Although the early result is a fall of five percentage points from last week’s preliminary reading, it remains just above the low of 47 per cent it reached in June as buyers stepped back following the May budget’s changes to the tax treatment of investment properties.
uncertain
buyers → remain → properties
Six parties registered for the Waverley unit, five were first home buyers, and all except one participated.
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all → register → one
Bidding opened at $1.4 million, below its $1,585,000 guide and rose in $25,000, $5000 and $1000 increments.
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Bidding → open → 25,000
When nobody budged despite further attempts to secure more bids, it sold under the hammer for $80,000 above its $1.6 million reserve for $1.68 million.
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it → budge → million
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
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reserve → be → guide
McGrath’s Charles Stevens said that, other than the upstairs neighbour, the auction didn’t draw any investors.
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auction → say → investors
“The two downstairs apartments, both have garages, and then the two upstairs don’t have a garage,” Stevens said.
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Stevens → have → garage
“The majority of people coming through were in the first home buyer category … we had 12 people who came back for more than one inspection.”
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who → come → inspection
“You can see the ocean from the sunroom,” he added.
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he → see → sunroom
The flat last traded for $520,000, since 2002, records show.
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records → trade → 2002
In Drummoyne, a waterfront apartment with Sydney Harbour views at 12/74 Wrights Road sold for $2,161,000.
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apartment → sell → 2,161,000
Ten people registered for the three-bedroom apartment which had no guide.
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which → register → guide
Buyers were mostly downsizers, and two were builders seeking to renovate and flip.
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two → seek → ?
Bidding opened at $1.8 million and a $100,000 offer instantly took the price above its $1.85 million reserve, so it was announced as on the market.
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it → open → market
There were a flurry of bids in large and small increments until it sold for $311,000 above reserve for $2,161,000.
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it → be → 2,161,000
Ray White’s Mario Carbone said it was a no guide campaign under instructions from the solicitors, “because it had to be sold, it was a deceased estate”.
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it → say → solicitors
He said that buyer feedback was between $1.5 million and $1.7 million.
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feedback → say → ?
Carbone said the waterfront home drew the interest of downsizers due to its lift access.
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home → say → access
“We’re having good numbers through our open homes, but buyers are still proceeding with an element of caution because of everything that’s happening in the economy,” he said.
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he → have → economy
“When buyers see value, they will come, they will compete and they will purchase.”
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they → see → value
Nearby, a well maintained Stanmore terrace at 82 Northumberland Avenue drew three registrations.
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terrace → maintain → registrations
Two competed for the Federation style inner west two bedder.
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Two → compete → bedder
Initially, the property was guided at $1.65 million, but then lifted to $1.7 million midway through its campaign.
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property → guide → campaign
Bidding opened at $1.69 million with $10,000 bids dished out quickly for most of the rapid auction before it sold above its reserve for $1,872,000 to a buyer from Canberra.
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it → open → Canberra
The underbidder is looking to upsize from an apartment.
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underbidder → look → apartment
Ray White’s Matt Carvalho said it “was quite a strong auction in terms of bidding.
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it → say → bidding
It was really just two people that just fought it out.
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that → fight → it
“A lot of other auctions are … holding back, whereas this was actually a competitive fast auction, which was nice to see,” he said.
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he → hold → auctions
The investment property was held for 20 years.
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property → hold → years
It last traded for $585,000 in 2006, records show.
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records → trade → 2006
LJ Hooker’s head of research Mathew Tiller said Domain’s clearance rate of 48 per cent for Sydney was “not a good start” to the spring selling season.
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rate → say → season
“We’re not seeing as much listing activity at the start of spring as we would normally see at this time of year.”
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we → see → year
He said properties were sitting on the market for a little bit longer now.
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properties → say → market
“Those who aren’t under pressure to list have begun to hold off a little bit to see how the market pans out,” he said.
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he → list → pressure
“We probably just have to get through the RBA decision the week after next.
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We → have → decision
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
