House prices in Sydney: the truth about current auction results – realestate.com.au

It’s not red hot – it’s medium heat.

That’s the feedback from agents and auctioneers after another great weekend of auction activity in Sydney.

Nearly 1,000 homes went under the hammer on Saturday, with most selling for high prices, but agents explained the market had not yet fully reached its peak.

This meant sellers received higher prices than those who sold last year, and in some cases offered bids well above already inflated reserves, but nothing like the last market boom in 2021.

The difference: During the Covid-era boom, weekly auction clearance rates exceeded 85 percent and prices rose nearly 30 percent in a year.

The auction success rate has been around 65 percent in recent weeks, with prices in Sydney rising an average of about 7 percent compared to last year, according to PropTrack.

PropTrack described the recent price growth as “above the long-term trend,” but far from the highs of previous booms.

Auctioneer Andrew Cooley, director of Avenue Auctions, said the houses fetching the highest prices were often family homes in suburban areas, where there was a shortage of supply.

“There is no huge incentive for the owners of these types of properties to sell their properties. They stay where they are,” Mr Cooley said.

“It’s supply and demand. A lot of people want these types of properties, the forever home, but there aren’t many available. It’s a thin market for these types of properties with a lot of buyers.”

One of the properties that fetched the highest prices was a ‘castle-style’ house in Lindfield, which sold for $5.3 million at auction.

The guide for the Primula St house had been $5 million. There was only one bidder.

Selling agent Jessica Cao of Ray White Upper North Shore said a young family bought the house.

1 Primula Street, Lindfield sold for $5.3 million.

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“They used to have a castle in this area but they went abroad for a while and when they came back and saw another castle for sale they knew they had to have it.”

Earlier, a bidding war broke out between two parties at the auction for a five-bedroom home in Wahroonga, pushing the price to $4.15 million, $300,000 more than reserved.

Five bidders registered for the auction of the Bareena Ave house, which covered a sizeable 935 sqm plot of land, but much of the auction was a showdown between two committed buyers.

“This was a real battle,” said auctioneer Chris Scerri. Selling agents Cavill Group noted that there was scope to modernize the property.

5 Bareena Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW real estate.

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In the south, four bidders registered to auction a waterfront home on Matson Cres in Miranda, which last traded for $1.6 million in 2020. The renovated home was resold on Saturday for $3.962 million.

Mr Cooley, the property’s auctioneer, said the reserve price had been “very optimistic” at $3.85 million but the result far exceeded that. “It was a very big result for that property,” he said.

A dated Miranda home on the same street, which last sold in 1978 for $33,000, changed hands again earlier the same day for $2.62 million, $370,000 more than reserved.

10 Matson Crescent, Miranda sold for $370,000 over reserve.

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24 Matson Cres, Miranda sold for $3.962 million. The 2020 prize was $1.6 million.

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The four-bedroom house attracted nine registered bidders and a local couple were the buyers. A price of $33,000 in 1978 would be equivalent to about $220,000 in today’s currency, the ABS inflation calculator showed.