Two buyers are in negotiations for a Manly mansion that passed in at auction on a vendor bid of $18 million.
The sunny harbourfront home at 15 Addison Road drew a crowd, but buyers were hesitant to raise their hands.
It was one of 581 auctions scheduled in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.3 per cent from 352 reported results, while 79 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The five-bedroom Manly house is set on 506 square metres of land with direct access to a sandy beach and sparkling harbour views. It comes with development approval for a renovation complete with a lift.
It was offered with a price guide of $17 million to $20 million and drew interest from expats and residents of the eastern suburbs.
Auctioneer Clarence White of Menck White Auctioneers began proceedings but was not met with genuine bidding. He made a vendor bid of $18 million, but with no one willing to raise their hand, he passed the property in.
A Manly home passed in at auction on a vendor bid of $18 million. Credit: Michael Quelch
“It is always tricky with the high-value properties because sometimes the people that are on them will sometimes come and they will sit,” he said. “Unless they see an imperative.”
Max Walls International listing agent Anthony Walls was in negotiations with two buyers at the time of publication.
He thought both buyers were at $20 million, and that his vendors were sellers at $20 million, so expected the home to sell soon.
“It was a pretty good crowd, obviously because of where it is, the only sandy beach fronting the cove,” he said.
Auctioneer Clarence White made an $18 million vendor bid. Credit: Michael Quelch
White called another auction in Turramurra that sold for $2.23 million as a three-bedroom deceased estate with opportunity to renovate.
There were 25 registered bidders for 1 Rothwell Road and five of them made offers.
It opened at $1.4 million, rose in increments of $100,000 and $50,000 at first, then fell to $25,000 offers beyond the $1.7 million mark.
“At that price point that is value, and a good value entry point into Turramurra,” he said. The selling agent was Jeremiah Ebeid of Belle Property Pymble, who said a builder planning to knock the home down and rebuild beat several families for the keys.
Ebeid said the campaign began with a price guide of $1.7 million, but received no interest, so the guide was cut to $1.5 million. The reserve was $1.65 million.
Elsewhere, a first home buyer paid $1.7 million for a two-bedroom Surry Hills terrace with no parking at auction on Saturday.
Two bidders, both first home buyers, competed for the home at 7 Nichols Street, set on just 63 square metres of land.
Interested buyers had been given a price guide of $1,575,000, and a crowd of about 30 gathered. Twenty-five bids were placed to reach $1.7 million, right on the reserve price, when the hammer fell to a woman who had been on the phone to her family during the auction.
“The buyer liked it because she just loves Surry Hills,” Ray White selling agent Walter Burfitt-Williams said.
“She really had her heart set on the house.”
He said first home buyers are quite active in his area at present but were choosy about the properties on offer.
“If you have got a property that ticks all the boxes they are there,” he said. “The ones that are perhaps a bit more compromised, they are a bit more cautious.”
Buyers are also cautious about the potential path of interest rates ahead of the August Reserve Bank meeting, Burfitt-Williams said, at which some economists are warning the bank will need to consider a possible rate rise.
In Hornsby Heights, a local upsizing family paid $1,951,000 for a five-bedroom house.
Set on 700 square metres, 58 Meluca Crescent attracted six registered bidders, of whom three made offers.
Bidding began at $1.65 million and sailed over the $1.7 million reserve in a quick auction.
The winners see an opportunity to add value to the original-style home with swimming pool and plan a renovation, Ray White Upper North Shore selling agent Alex Iannuzzelli said.
The sellers had been there for almost 32 years, he said.
He said interest rates had not been a roadblock for buyers, but the state of the market could depend on buyers’ circumstances.
“There are buyers that are out there,” he said. “They just need to make it make sense for them and their situation.”
Five bidders competed for a two-bedroom Lane Cove apartment, pushing the sale price to $951,500.
A first home buyer beat a crowd dominated by first time buyers for the 85-square-metre home at 1/34 Epping Road.
Bidding began at $760,000 and rose in a competitive auction, said McGrath Lane Cove selling agent Julia Sikora. She declined to reveal the reserve.
The size and location were drawcards, while the apartment was sold with scope to improve, she said.
“It is a really good spot in terms of access to The Canopy at Lane Cove,” she said.
The market overall was “pretty good”. “Stock levels are a little bit on the light end,” she said. “There may be a little more competition for the right property.”