Spring selling season fires up

Spring selling season is well and truly underway with the Ray White Group scheduling 453 properties to go under the hammer today.

Australasia’s largest real estate group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 68 per cent.

Buyers were out in force across Ray White auctions this weekend, recording an average of 3.8 registered bidders and 2.6 active bidders per auction.

The top result for the day went to Ray White Upper North Shore agents Rowan Lazar and Graeme Schultz who sold 8 Coleridge Street, Pymble under the hammer for $3.605 million.

The auction with the highest number of registered bidders was at Ray White Eastern Beaches agents Nick Wiggan and Angus Gorrie’s auction at 4/115 Carrington Road, Coogee which recorded 23 registered bidders and seven active bidders.

According to NurtureCloud data, Ray White welcomed 23,448 prospective buyers through 7,547 open homes today, with Ray White Ascot agent Oliver Jonker’s listing at 48 Power Street, Wavell Heights, seeing the most attendees at 61.

SYDNEY

Ray White NSW head of auctions Perry Edmondson-Clark said election day in NSW today didn’t slow the auction market down with an impressive 173 auctions across the state.

“We continue to see a consistent amount of bidders attend our auctions and a circa 70 per cent achieve a result under the hammer.

“It is certainly important to know the buyers are digging their heels in around perceived value and it is getting harder to extract a price out of them above what they are prepared to pay.

“Sellers are certainly having to adjust expectations to achieve results under the hammer but all our data suggest the auction price is the best price you will see for your property.”

8 Coleridge Street, Pymble

• Sold under the hammer for $3.605 million - $255,000 over reserve

• Lead agent: Rowan Lazar (0412 329 789)

• Ray White Upper North Shore

• Seven registered bidders, seven active

“We had a mix of bidders, some looking to knock-down and rebuild and some wanting to renovate,” Mr Lazar said.

“The location is about as good as it gets, flat, north rear, cul de sac, and close to rail.

“The winning bid went to a local buyer who is looking to move into the area for their kids' education, they were attracted to the school zoning.

“The Upper North Shore is really tightly held. The sellers’ (pictured above) family had been there for 52 years and they were the only owner of the property.”

11b Taronga Parade, Caringbah

• Sold under the hammer for $2.6 million $200,000 over reserve

• Lead agent: Wendy Samrani (0414 554 646)

• Ray White Caringbah

• Seven registered bidders, seven active

Ms Samrani said the property received a lot of interest with around 80 groups through during the campaign.

She said the home achieved a record price for a North Caringbah duplex sale.

“It was on a big block of land and had a cinema on the ground floor and four big bedrooms upstairs,” Ms Samrani said.

“We had a couple of downsizers but mostly young families. We had a lot of interest.

“The winning young couple from Rosebay, they wanted to move to be close to the beach and North Caringbah offers a similar lifestyle to Rosebay but they are getting more bang for their buck.

“The sellers were a young couple who bought the property from me at auction almost five years ago. They bought it to knock it down and build a duplex, we sold one last year and they lived in this one. They are now relocating closer to the city for work.”

1 Paradise Avenue, Roseville

• Sold under the hammer for $2.75 million

• Lead agent: Jessica Cao (0466 877 260)

• Ray White Upper North Shore

• One registered bidder, one active bidder

“The buyer (pictured above with her grandchildren) had been renting in the area and her daughter lives in the area, so she’s been waiting to buy,” Ms Cao said.

“She saw this one which is easy to look after and has nice gardens, and she loved the location.

“The sellers were a young family who were upsizing. They bought it as a two bedroom semi and extended it to add two further bedrooms.

“But now their kids are teenagers and they want more room, but they are staying in the local area.”

4/115 Carrington Road, Coogee

• Sold under the hammer for $905,000

• Lead agent: Nick Wiggan (0476 239 329)

• Ray White Eastern Beaches

• 23 registered bidders, seven active

Mr Wiggan said the home had been in the seller’s (pictured above with Nick Wiggan) family for 43 years.

“I think the price point and location were very attractive. There's not many two bedrooms in Coogee that you can buy under $1 million, especially art deco,” he said.

“The winning bid went to a first home buyer, who is an owner-builder who intends to renovate the property.

“A big majority were owner occupiers, there were a few investors and owner-builders who saw the value in doing the work themselves.”

MELBOURNE

Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said despite the wintery weather experience across Melbourne today, the auction market felt like spring with volumes surging.

“A wild and wintery weekend in Melbourne saw auction volume surge with 226 auctions scheduled across the state for the Ray White Group,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“The first ‘Super Saturday’ of spring saw more than 1300 auctions across the broader industry, with Mt Waverley and Reservoir the two top suburbs for volume.

“Buyer activity waned slightly with 2.1 active bidders on average, however, this had little impact on clearance rates with 72.6 percent of auction properties selling.

“In the lead up to the AFL Grand Final, auction numbers will steadily increase up to the main event with sellers keen to get their property sold prior.

“Next week the Ray White Victoria network has 252 auctions scheduled.”

6 Ann St, Pascoe Vale

• Sold under the hammer for $1.385 million

• Lead agent: Ian Dempsey (0447 556 210)

• Ray White Preston

• Eight registered bidders, six active

“The buyers were people I sold for last week who were downsizing, the rest of the bidders were young professional couples,” Mr Dempsey said.

“The seller had lived there for a long time, around 30 years, and they are moving to Castlemaine.”

1 Aitken Court, Ferntree Gully

• Sold under the hammer for $920,000

• Lead agent: Rene Mawad (0403 141 596)

• Ray White Ferntree Gully

• Five bidders

Mr Mawad said the vendor bought it two years ago in order to downsize.

“She is now moving to Queensland to be closer to family,” he said.

“The buyers were a young family who wanted low maintenance living. Most of our bidders were young young families.

“There’s a lot of supply at the moment and it's competitive for sellers. So it's really important to price well, market well, and present well.”

465 O'Hallorans Rd, Lara

• Sold under the hammer $750,000

• Lead agent: Matthew Wade-Taylor (0430 006 345)

• Ray White Lara

• Three bidders

Mr Wade-Taylor (pictured above, centre left, with Barwon Health chair Dan Simmonds and the buyers, right) said it was a charity auction for the Barwon Health Fund, with bidding starting at $680,000.

“It was a brand new build,” he said.

“The developer, Bisinella Development, donated the land to Barwon Health and Hamlan Homes built the home, everything in the home was donated.

“The whole thing was built for the Barwon Health Fund.

“The buyers were a local couple who were downsizing.”

39 Renaissance Bvd, Mernda

• Sold under the hammer for $688,500

• Lead agent/auctioneer: John Metaxas (0412 840 040)

• Ray White Mernda

• Two bidders

Mr Metaxas said bidding started at $610,000

“The buyer is going to move in for a while and then maybe rent it out,” he said.

“He had missed out at a few auctions before so it was nice to see him win today.

“There’s still lots of buyers out there, we had a full house here today with even some of my current vendors coming to watch and see what happens.”

6 Ann St, Pascoe Vale

• Sold under the hammer for $1.385 million

• Lead agent: Ian Dempsey (0447 556 210)

• Ray White Preston

• Eight registered bidders, six active

“The buyers were people I sold for last week who were downsizing, the rest of the bidders were young professional couples,” Mr Dempsey said.

“The seller had lived there for a long time, around 30 years, and they are moving to Castlemaine.”

25 Millpond Dr, Point Cook

• Sold under the hammer for $724,600 - $14,000 over reserve.

• Lead agent: Amar Thakkar (0430 931 919)

• Ray White Point Cook

• Four bidders

• Auctioneer: Hamilton Orellana, Ray White

“The winning bid went to first home buyers (pictured above, centre right) who lived locally,” Mr Thakkar said.

“We had three first home buyers bidding and one investor.

“The sellers (pictured above, centre left) were relocating to the countryside for a tree change.

“The home was move-in ready as the sellers had renovated over the last couple of years, it was park facing. It was a standard family home.”

4/58 Munro St, Coburg

• Sold under the hammer for $757,000

• Lead agent: Raphael Calik-Houston

• Ray White Coburg

• Four registered bidders, two active

“We had one downsizer and one first home buyer bidding,” Mr Calik-Houston said.

“The first home buyer landed the winning bid and had been renting locally.

“Most of the interest throughout the campaign came from first home buyers.

“The seller was upsizing in the local area.”

BRISBANE

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said auction activity had been very property dependent.

“It was a real mixed bag at Ray White auctions across Brisbane today, almost feast and famine,” he said.

“When buyers have identified really good quality property the bidder registrations have been in excess of seven or eight, seeing really strong outcomes.

“But those properties with less appeal have seen more limited activity.”

11 Boon Street, Ashgrove

• Sold under the hammer for $1.47 million

• Lead agent: Judi O’Dea (0417 009 635)

• Ray White Paddington

• Four registered bidders, three active

Ms O’Dea said the bidding opened at $1.2 million

“The sellers were a young couple and one of them was an architect who was phoning in from Shanghai where he was visiting for work.

“I sold the home to them six years ago and now they’re upsizing to another home in Ashgrove.

“The buyers are relocating from New Farm/Teneriffe and fell in love with the art deco home.

“This is only the home’s third owner, it’s been a very tightly held home.”

ADELAIDE

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said the network had 64 auctions scheduled this week, with more than 40 going under the hammer today.

“Those figures are up on last week and up year-on-year by a large percentage,” Mr Morris said.

“The preliminary clearance rate for this week is in excess of 85 per cent, and while registered bidder numbers are slightly down, sitting at about seven, they have hovered at about seven for most of 2024.

“Bidder activity is remaining the same, at about 3.5 active bidders per auction, which is bringing us some great results with properties selling at about 5 per cent above reserve, and around 8-10 per cent higher than the highest offers prior to auction.

“So the strong market is still abound in South Australia, with auction becoming one of the preferred methods of sale, as about 25 per cent of all properties coming to market are being listed under the auction process.”

28 Cobham Ave, Morphettville

• Sold under the hammer for $1.58 million - $280,000 over reserve

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Rod Smitheram (0417 626 037)

• Ray White Glenelg | Brighton

• 18 registered bidders, nine active bidders

Mr Smitheram said the property had been in the seller’s family for 30 years.

“We had a mix of bidders with some renovators and families, but mostly developers,” Mr Smitheram said

“A developer landed the winning bid. He is an Australian resident but had been living in Canada.

“Interestingly, most of the developers bidding were interstate developers from Sydney or Melbourne.

“It’s a 969 sqm corner block. It was perfect for developers but also the home could have been renovated.”

17 Bruce Ave, Rostrevor

• Sold under the hammer for $967,000

• Lead agent: Linda Clemente (0409 099 046)

• Ray White Norwood

• 14 registered bidders, six active

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White

Ms Clemente said the property had been in the seller’s family for 26 years.

“The winning bid went to an investor. The majority of bidders were investors and first home buyers,” she said.

“It wasn't a development site so we didn't have any developer interest at all.

“It was in a really good quiet location and close to parks. Everything is within walking distance.”

65 Botting Street, Albert Park

• Sold under the hammer for $972,000

• Lead agent: Nick Psarros (0400 506 555)

• Ray White Port Adelaide

• Nine registered bidders, five active

“The winning bid went to a couple who had just sold their house locally, and were upsizing,” Mr Psarros said.

“The sellers had bought a bigger home in another suburb. They bought this home 10 years ago but they have a growing family and needed to upsize.

“It had beautiful character and a lovely garden with a big established tree out the back.”

93 Ninth Ave, Royston Park

• Sold under the hammer for $1.707 million

• Lead agent/auctioneer: Liam McDevitt

• Ray White Walkerville

• 14 registered bidders, five active

Mr McDevitt said bidding started at $1.5 million.

“The winning bid went to local owner occupiers (pictured above),” he said.

“The vendors decided to sell with team McDevitt after we sold a property next door to them and achieved an amazing price.

“They bought the property in 2018 and had it as an investment property but decided to move it on once the tenant vacated. They live approximately 500m away.”

3 Redden Avenue, Felixstow

• Sold under the hammer for $1.055 million

• Lead agent: Chris Xu

• Ray White Adelaide City

• Three registered bidders

• Auctioneer: John Morris, Ray White

“It was sold to a young couple who loved the house from the first sight,” Mr Xu said.

“The sellers had a growing family and were looking to upgrade to a bigger home.”

PERTH

42 Nidjalla Loop, Swanbourne

• Sold under the hammer for $3.15 million

• Lead agent: Candie Italiano

• Ray White Claremont | Dalkeith

• Three bidders

• Auctioneer: Mark Whiteman, Ray White Western Australia CEO

“The buyers moved here a year ago from the UK and had been looking for something coastal, so this was perfect for them,” Ms Italiano said.

“The sellers had lived here for about five years, since the home was built. They’re now upsizing.”

13/34 Smith St, Highgate

• Sold under the hammer for $495,000

• Lead agent: Matt Kalos (0467 885 527)

• Ray White South Perth

• Five registered, four active

“The winning bid went to an investor from Broome (pictured above centre),” Mr Kalos said.

“The rest of the bidders were first home buyers.

“The seller (pictured above left) was relocating back to the US.”

4A Ashmore Way, Sorrento

• Sold under the hammer for $1.375 million - $75,000 over reserve

• Lead agent/ Auctioneer: Scott Langley (0417 181 185)

• Ray White North Quays

• Six registered bidders, three active

“The buyer was a first home buyer. We sold her parents their family home on the same street some 15 years ago, the buyer wanted to stay close to her family,” Mr Langley said.

“The seller also lives on the same street, he originally helped his mum buy the property so she was close by as she got older.”