Family drops $15.2 million on Bellevue Hill house

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Key points

• There were 513 Sydney homes scheduled for auction on Saturday.
• A first home buyer couple purchased a Marrickville fixer-upper for $1.44 million. 
• A Petersham house sold for $415,000 above reserve, after competition from seven buyers.

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A five-bedroom house in Bellevue Hill sold for $15.2 million at auction on Saturday, fetching more than five times what it last traded for in 2011.

Eight parties turned up to compete for 10 Fairweather Street, a two-storey home on a level 753-square-metre block that had a price guide of $12 million.

The home was one of 513 Sydney properties scheduled for auction on Saturday.

Bidding on the five-bedroom, six-bathroom house began at $11 million, hit $11.5 million on the second bid, and then climbed rapidly in $250,000 increases to $15 million, as six of the bidders competed.

From there it jumped to $15.1 million, then $15.2 million, at which point the gavel fell, but only after the buyers and crowd had to wait several minutes for one other interested bidder to decide whether they wanted to make an offer.

The home sold through Oliver Lavers, of The Rubinstein Group, to a family upsizing from the inner west. Lavers said the result was above expectations, but declined to reveal the reserve price.

“I thought the house was worth it,” he said. “It’s hard to find blocks that are this big, flat and wide, with a quality house on top.”

Limited supply had been driving strong competition for high-end homes, Laver said. Buyers at such price points were also less affected by rising interest rates.

“There’s a lot of cash buyers and a lot of people with big borrowing power,” he said.

The result was well above the $2.95 million that records show the home last traded for in 2011, and more than double the suburb’s median house price of $7,525,000, on Domain data.

The five-bedroom house in Bellevue Hill sold for $15.2 million.Credit: TRG

Auctioneer Damien Cooley, of Cooley Auctions, said there had been strong results in recent weeks as buyer demand continued to outstrip the supply of homes for sale.

The top end of the market was “on fire”, Cooley said, and the sub-$1.5 million market was also proving strong, as first home buyers raced to use the property tax option – which replaces upfront stamp duty costs with an annual tax – before it is scrapped on June 30.

Competition for eligible homes was on full display at the auction of a two-bedroom fixer upper in Marrickville, which sold for $1.44 million.

Five first home buyers registered to bid, and all made offers for the original-condition semi at 52 Hollands Avenue, which was on the market for the first time in more than four decades.

The auction opened with an offer of $1.2 million, jumped to $1.25 million, and then rose in mostly $20,000 increases to $1.38 million, before slowing to smaller increments.

Bidding stalled at $1.42 million, and after several minutes of negotiations with the agent, the highest bidders increased their own offer to $1.44 million, at which time the property sold. The result was below the $1.5 million reserve.

The sale ended more than six months of house hunting for first home buyers Wil Storch and Madi Jensen, whose final bid matched a pre-auction offer they had made.

They were relieved to secure a home after months of missing out on properties and being misled by inaccurate price guides.

Agent Kieran Gianoudis and auctioneer Tim Snell congratulate first home buyers Wil Storch and Madi Jensen. Credit: Rhett Wyman

“You don’t bother [with the price guides], there’s literally no point,” said Sorch, a software engineer. “On average, they seem to be at least 20 per cent below [what a home sells for] … and it’s quite frustrating. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.”

Selling agent Kieran Gianoudis, of Ray White Earlwood, had advertised the property without a price guide, but said buyer feedback had been between $1.2 million and $1.3 million. First home buyers were then looking to spend between $100,000 and $300,000 on renovations.

Gianoudis said many of the first home buyers, including the purchasers, had been interested in using the property tax option – available on homes worth up to $1.5 million. He added that the vendors had wanted to list in spring but decided to bring forward their sale before the first home buyer support was withdrawn.

Five buyers turned out to compete for the home.Credit: Rhett Wyman

From July 1, first home buyers will instead be able to access a stamp duty exemption or concession under increased price caps, which will waive or reduce duty on homes worth up to $1 million.

The Marrickville home last traded for $63,000 in 1982, records show.

In Petersham, strong competition from seven bidders pushed the price of a three-bedroom house $415,000 above the reserve.

Bidding on 79 Station Street began at $1.8 million and lifted in $100,000 and $50,000 raises to $2.45 million, passing both the $2.2 million to $2.4 million price guide and the $2.3 million reserve.

The 291-square-metre block went on to sell for $2,715,000 to a downsizer from Annandale. They were one of nine parties who registered to bid.

Adrian Williams’ Namir Mikha said the home’s location, character, large windows and rear access had made it popular with house hunters.

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