A tiny one-bedroom sandstone cottage in Surry Hills with an outdoor toilet and no parking sold for $1,291,000 at auction on Saturday.
Fifteen buyers registered and nine actively bid on at 8 McElhone Place, mainly first-home buyers and investors from interstate and overseas.
The historical street was named after Terence Mcelhone who arrived by convict ship in 1819.
Bidding opened at $1 million by a son bidding on behalf of his mother, then $10,000 and $5000 bids were placed until a final $1000 bid sold it under the hammer to a local investor from Bondi.
LJ Hooker’s Aaron Del Monte said the street had a very close community and was one of Sydney’s hidden secrets.
“All the neighbours come out and chat, I’ve never walked down that street without seeing a couple of neighbours having a chat. You don’t get that these days, everyone’s busy,” he said.
The property was one of 730 scheduled auctions in Sydney at the weekend.
By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 72.9 per cent from 442 reported results, while 86 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
A three-bedroom deceased estate in Marsfield was hotly contested at auction and sold for $3,155,000.
The vendor of 26 Dan Street wanted the proceeds of the sale to go to cancer research by the Royal North Shore Hospital and selected two of his best mates as executors to fulfil his wish.
Fifteen buyers registered, and six actively bid on the perfectly level and wide block with development opportunities for a duplex.
Bidding opened at $2.3 million, and three bids of $100,000 were placed, soaring over the $2.3 million to $2.53 million guided range and $2.4 million reserve. Bids of $50,000 were placed until the $3 million mark, then $10,000 bids slowed the pace down.
A $5000 bid secured the keys for $3,155,000 for builders from Sydney’s north shore.
McGrath’s David Middleton said the generous benefactor who died was affected by cancer.
“[He] wants no one else to go through it. If this gift can have even a small impact then that made him happy,” he said.
Middleton said the 20-metre frontage and clear land with no significant trees made it an ideal compliant development block, “which are very popular with local buyers, as it allows them to build a larger property, and the approvals take less time”.
The cul-de-sac location was on a quiet street close to trains, schools, Macquarie University and a shopping centre so was attractive to buyers, Middleton said.
In Lilyfield, a four-bedroom Federation home with a white picket fence at 4 Edna Street, sold for $3,375,000. The vendors will be upsizing across the road.
Ten buyers registered and three bid actively. BresicWhitney’s Jack Parry said many buyers praised the home as “the prettiest house we have seen in our search”.
Two buyers attempted to make an opening bid at the same time, one offering $2.85 million and the other $3 million. Auctioneer Thomas McGlynn proceeded with the higher offer of $3 million, which surpassed the $2.9 million reserve. A range of bids crept up to the final sale price of $3,375,000 where it sold under the hammer.
Parry said the property was so popular that the guide had to be adjusted several times during the campaign, from $2.45 million to $2.6 million then $2.7 million.
Parry said the property had all the boxes ticked, “it’s the quintessential cottage… it was four bedrooms, two living areas and a grass backyard, and free-standing in a good street.”
The buyers, a young family from Woollahra, were represented by a buyer’s agent.
AMP’s chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said the clearance rate of 72.9 per cent was the strongest clearance rate since March and was oddly strong.
“It could be statistical noise, it’s a bit hard to know at this stage. What we do know is that it’s still coming on pretty low volumes,” he said.
“Listings are up, which means there’s more distressed sellers and buyers aren’t keeping up with the rising listings, which explains the downtrend in clearance rates.”
Oliver said Sydney was caught in a crossfire of strong population growth and a lack of new homes coming into the market.
“On the face of it, Sydney looks a lot better. But it’s doubtful as to whether it’ll be sustained at that high level.”