First home buyer nabs Croydon house sold by investor for $1.83m

A charming two-bedroom home in Croydon was offloaded by an investor and snapped up by a first home buyer for $1,832,000 at auction on Saturday.The full brick single level home at 49 Wetherill Street came with dramatic fireplaces, an updated bathroom and a spacious backyard with covered outdoor area.The property was one of 564 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 49 per cent from 325 reported results, while 114 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.Bidding for the Croydon home opened at its $1.6 million guide, and went up in a flurry of varying bids between three buyers.Bids climbed in mostly $10,000 and $20,000 increments before slowing to smaller rises of $1000 and $2000.At $1,831,000 the property was called three times before an additional $500 each was accepted from the final two bidders. It sold under the hammer for $1,832,000.Auctioneer Tom Panos said, “most of the properties I had today had no one registered or one person registered … But for some strange reason, this property ended up getting 10 people registered on it.”Panos said the reserve was around $1.75 million.“It was a good result, and it did have 10 people. But … it probably would have got that price, or even a little bit more a few months ago,” he said.“There’s a lot of vendors that are feeling distraught because they’re having to sell their properties 10 to 15 per cent lower than what they would have maybe six months, a year ago.“But I keep reminding real estate agents and their vendors: let’s not forget, most of these houses have had a 60 per cent uplift since COVID, and that is probably one of the other reasons why we’re getting this adjustment. It was an unsustainable growth.”It was sold by Lambros Markessinis from Ray White Burwood.The house last traded for $185,000, in 1993, and was rented for $670 per week, records show.A five-bedroom manor in Hornsby drew 11 registrations at auction. The grand residence at 34-36 Manor Road was guided at $2.25 million.Bidding opened at $2 million and went up sporadically in a mix of $25,000, $50,000 and $10,000 bids.Eleven parties registered and six were active before a crowd.When bidding reached its $2.3 million reserve the charming home was announced as on the market. It sold for $2.69 million to a builder from the area.There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.Selling agent James Campbell from Belle Property Upper North Shore said, “It’s a unique home, and because it’s on such a big block of land … it was a rare finding.“So it just brought out lots of buyers … you would have never known the market’s down.”The vendors are downsizing closer to the city.In Ashfield, a six-bedroom house in need of work at 95 Holden Street, passed in at auction.The “blank canvas” guided at $2.2 million had an opening offer of $1.9 million and a further increase to $1.95 million, however the vendor did not want to sell at that price.Selling agent Michael Simpson from Ray White Ashfield and Summer Hill said two parties registered, however one did not show.The property last traded for $235,000 in 1991, records show.In Blakehurst, a five-bedroom contemporary property with a swimming pool sold for $3.36 million, which was $160,000 above its $3.2 million guide and reserve. The family home at 11 Lorna Avenue had five registered buyers, all local upsizing families.Bidding opened at $3 million and four parties competed in $20,000, $10,000, $5000 and $1000 rises.Selling agent Trent Tarbey from McGrath Sans Souci said, “It was relatively timid bidding. The bidding flowed consistently … Everyone was happy to bid and get involved, but no one was stretching themselves.”The vendors are upsizing to Cronulla.The home last traded for $3.09 million in 2021, records show.AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Domain’s clearance rate of 49 per cent for Sydney is “a pretty soft result”.He noted the clearance rate was “lower in the pandemic and in the 2017 to 2019 property slump.”Considering the interest rate hikes, low levels of confidence, uncertainty in the economy, and investment property tax changes, Oliver said it’s to be expected that there is a slump in the property market.“It looks to me like a normal, a cyclical downturn,” he said.More:AuctionsProperty pricesSydney house pricesProperty marketSalesCroydonProperty listingsFrom our partners