‘It is a beautiful property’: No bids for $4m renovated Rosebery house

An architecturally renovated family home in Rosebery is still available after passing in at an auction on Saturday at which nobody bid.

The transformed four-bedroom bungalow at 24 Morley Avenue has leadlight windows, high ceilings, glass sliding doors, a gourmet kitchen with a striking avocatus quartzite bench, covered barbecue area and swimming pool. It was listed with a price guide of $3.95 million.

The property was one of 706 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 53 per cent from 410 reported results throughout the week, while 133 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The early read is slightly lower than last week’s preliminary result of 57 per cent. But Sydney’s monthly auction clearance rate has edged up for the last two months as sellers realise they need to meet the market to sell. Sydney remains a buyer’s market, below the threshold of 60 per cent considered balanced between buyers and sellers.

The Rosebery home attracted three registered bidders. The potential buyer demographic was largely young professional couples from the surrounding suburbs and inner city, plus some downsizers.

But on the auction floor, none of the potential buyers raised their hands and the home was passed in.

“It was just one of those auctions where people did all their diligence,” The Agency selling agent Chris Skarlatos said, “And no-one put their hand up. They all sat there and looked at each other.”

He is now working with a few potential buyers and hopes it will sell soon.

“It is a beautiful property,” he said. “The cost of buying an unrenovated home – it makes sense to just buy this.”

The reserve was $4 million. The vendors are moving to be closer to family.

He described the market as “very patchy. You get the odd property that goes very well.”

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

On the north shore, a young family paid $3,755,000 for a brick family home in Roseville, beating two others.

The four-bedroom house at 44 Moore Street has an open-plan extension at the rear and was listed with a price guide of $3.7 million.

Three parties registered to bid, all young families, some of whom had been looking to buy for some time.

But Ray White Upper North Shore selling agent Jessica Cao described the auction as “very slow”.

“This is just the perfect location, perfect size, ready to move into, no work needs to be done,” she said.

Bidding began at $3.49 million, below the price guide, and then climbed to $3.55 million where the bidding stopped again before the third family entered the fray.

The price rose to $3.7 million but was still short of the reserve price of $3.75 million. Cao was then able to secure a winning bid of $3,755,000 to get the deal done.

The marathon auction took about 40 minutes.

“No one wants to overpay,” Cao said. “The good thing is, auctions, you can see who wants it.”

The winners are an upsizing family of six who have sold their home on the lower north shore. The sellers are a young family moving overseas who bought the home four years ago for $3.36 million.

“I do feel there is more energy in the market,” Cao said. “The turnkey properties in a good location with a scarcity of listings still can reach a good result in this market.”

In the inner west, a possible duplex development site in Ashfield is also still available after it did not reach its reserve at auction.

The four-bedroom house at 51 Palace Street is on a block of about 697 square metres and was for sale for the first time in 70 years.

It was listed with a price guide of $2.8 million and attracted interest from builders.

One potential bidder, a builder, attended the auction but did not bid. A vendor bid was placed at $2.85 million but with no further offers, the home passed in.

The reserve was $3 million. The builder has indicated interest at around the $2.7 million to $2.75 million mark.

Rich & Oliva selling agent Marco Errichiello said buyers are interested and builders are asking questions such as about settlement, but the home has not yet sold.

“Buyers, if they see really good value, they will buy, but it has got to be really good value,” Errichiello said.

“They are almost predicting what it will be worth in a couple of months, after a rate rise,” he added, alluding to economist forecasts of another likely cash rate hike by the end of this year.

“The only thing that speeds up buyers is a lack of stock.”

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