Penshurst house sells for $515k over reserve after surprise move by bidder

74 Cambridge St, Penshurst sold for $515,000 over reserve.

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The auction for an unremarkable house in Penshurst in Sydney’s south turned into a pressure cooker for hopeful buyers when 16 parties registered to bid.

The five-bedroom house on Cambridge St was up for sale for the first time in nearly 40 years and the strong competition pushed the price half a million dollars over what the sellers’ would have accepted.

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The hammer dropped at $2.915m, $515,000 above reserve, but it’s understood the sellers would have been prepared to meet the market if the highest bids had been below their reserve.

“No one expected $2.915m,” said auctioneer Andrew Cooley. “Prior to the auction we had thought that $2.35m would be good price. Everyone was just blown away by the result.”

It was the first time the property was up for sale in nearly 40 years.

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Bidding for the property kicked off at $2m and 10 of the bidders who had registered with sales agent Daniel Sutarov of Ausrealty made offers.

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Mr Cooley, the director of Avenue Auctions, said the underbidder was one of the most committed parties at the auction, having bid from the $2.4m mark right up to $2.91m.

“The remarkable thing is that he had only seen the property for the first time on the day of the auction. Just incredible,” Mr Cooley said.

He added that the auction was an example of what could happen when two parties were heavily invested in the property and were prepared to dig deep to win the auction.

Auctioneer Andrew Cooley received bids from 10 of the 16 registered bidders. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

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He noted that the eventual buyer, who owned numerous trucks, wanted the property because there was a drive-through garage that allowed multiple vehicles to park on-site.

“The market is relatively strong. The fact they are talking rates coming down has instilled confidence,” Mr Cooley said.

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“Buyers feel that if they get a home loan it is more likely the repayments will come down. That’s given them the confidence to bid just a little extra.

“When rates were rising it was the opposite. No one wanted to push too hard.

“Another thing that’s changed is that it’s been a good month for auctions. Buyers who’ve attended auctions are seeing good crowds and that’s encouraged them to be active, to get on with it.”

The auction was among more than 1000 scheduled across Sydney this weekend, a volume described by property researchers as a “super Saturday”.

Last week, close to 75 per cent of the auctions produced a result for the vendors.