Young couple bring both sets of parents to win $1.66m Newtown auction

Verheijen said just one investor fronted up to the auction as first home buyers continued to dominate the entry-level market.

“I, personally, think this is because there are some good salaries out there and kids are staying at home longer so they can put more away,” she said.

“And for first home buyers who can afford it, we’re starting to see more using buyer’s agents, too, because it’s getting harder, and they keep missing out.”

The Newtown home was previously an investment property that last transacted eight years ago. Verheijen said it was the home’s location, light and potential that sparked the result.

In Leichardt, the lure of daily croissants and coffee from a nearby hot new bakery helped a three-bedroom, two-bathroom Federation classic at 119 Moore Street not only fetch a reserve-smashing $2.33 million but make its vendors an almost $1 million profit.

Selling agent Alex Mastoris, of CobdenHayson Annandale, said that, despite the home being originally marketed with a price guide of $1.8 million, sheer buyer interest fuelled by the opening of nearby Son of a Baker allowed them to raise the guide just days out from the event with feedback indicating the home would fetch $2.1 million.

He said the home’s cracking location near parks and shops also spurred the interest.

“We told the sellers it should crack the $2 million so we set the reserve at $2.2 million. We had seven registered bidders and five were active and they were a real mix of first home buyers, downsizers and upsizers,” Mastoris said.

“I think that’s because it presented exceptionally well and location wise you were [in] walking distance to everything including the bakery that just opened up … that in itself generated a bit of a buzz.”

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Mastoris said bidding opened at $1.8 million from a woman looking to downsize and rose in $25,000 increments until it slowly hit the $2.2 million mark.

“It then came down to two bidders; one was a first home buyer and the other an upsizer and it was slowly competitive until the upsizer got it. They’re expecting a baby in the next few weeks, and they just managed to muscle out the first home buyer by $10,000,” he said.

“I actually sold the home to the vendors in 2019 for $1.76 million and it was right before the boom, so they were really stoked – that’s good money.”

Over at 123 Reservoir Street in Surry Hills, a three-level converted warehouse sold for almost half a million dollars over the reserve after a pair of upsizers from Wollongong muscled out a Chinese investor to seal the deal. The pair paid $3.445 million for the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home, which last sold in 2018 for $2.7 million.

Selling agent Charles Touma, of Ray White Touma Group, said that, despite an attempted low-ball bid of $2.5 million, bidding officially kicked off at $3 million and quickly sailed past the reserve, which he would only say was just over $3 million.

While six registered bidders fronted up to the 9am auction, he said five were active and it was mainly between the underbidder and the buyer, who answered every offer with an aggressive counter.

“One bidder would throw down a $25,000 but then the eventual buyers would offer up $75,000 on top that. But when we reached $3.3 million, it was in dribs and drabs,” Touma said.

“I also had a guy from Melbourne bidding on the phone who was looking to buy for his kids, a couple from Balmain and another investor … this one was highly sought [after] and it had a great mix of buyers thanks to the industrial warehouse vibe.

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“It had high ceilings and exposed brick and exposed piping and also development potential.”

Touma said some buyers were beginning to pull back despite a strong start to the year.

Across at 49 Ross Street, in Epping, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom classic brick home sold for $2.768,000 in post-auction negotiations after two bidders battled it out until the home was passed in at $2.6 million.

A local family was then able to secure the home, paying just over the $2.75 million reserve.

“It was actually very sweet as they had come from a townhouse and they had their little girl there who was just so excited to get a house and told us, ‘I can now have sleepovers,’ ” selling agent Catherine Murphy, of The Agency North, said.

She said it was the buyers who kicked off bidding at $2.4 million, with $50,000 increments offered between them and the underbidders – another family – until it stalled at $2.6 million.

Both parties had been looking for months, Murphy said, with the home attracting strong buyer interest thanks to its location in one of Epping’s most sought-after school catchments.

“This was a typical auction for us, but it is a bit harder generally at the moment than what it has been in terms of getting people across the line,” she said.

“I think there’s more fear of paying too much and it’s the fear of having to pay that mortgage week in week out [that’s worrying buyers].”