Sydney housing crisis: Newtown home sells in just three minutes – $360,000 above asking price

An auction for a “rare” townhouse ended in a matter of minutes and was $360,000 above the reserve price, showing that at least some places appear to be immune to falling property prices in Australia.

The house, located at 70 Wells Street, Newtown, in Sydney’s inner west, was sold to a family from Rozelle for $3.11 million.

The property, which was listed with a guide price of $2.5 million, received an offer of $2.7 million from a buyer’s agent, acting on behalf of a local family, as soon as bidding began.

One buyer quickly made an offer of $2.71 million before the two bidders clashed to push the price above the $3 million mark.

It received so many bids that the auction was outpriced by two serious buyers who didn’t even get a chance to bid.

The auction ended in three minutes and went by so quickly that two serious buyers didn’t even get a chance to bid (file image)

“They may have had quotes that could compete, but the bidding went so fast that they didn’t get a chance to put their cards down,” said Blake Lowry of Belle Property Annandale. Domain.

The successful buyer of the house, a man named Ed, revealed that he was at the upper limit of what he was willing to offer when he made his final offer.

“Everybody has a hard cap, we thought the property was worth $3.1 million and we said we wouldn’t go over $3.15 million…if it went over we were happy to let it go,” he said.

Ed said he bought the 4,000-square-foot block because he and his partner were looking to increase its size and be closer to their children’s school, Newtown High School of Performing Arts.

The modern two-story property features five bedrooms, including an alternate one-bedroom office, two bathrooms, and off-street parking for two vehicles.

There are two outdoor areas, spacious living rooms designed to let in plenty of natural light, a gourmet kitchen with quality appliances, covered terrace for BBQ, and garden.

The house is also close to shops and public transport.

The Wells Street home last sold in 1996 for $295,000, according to property records.

Successful homebuyer Ed said his family bought the home because they were looking to increase its size and be closer to Newtown High School of Performing Arts.

The modern home features five bedrooms, including a one-bedroom alternate office, two bathrooms, and off-street parking for two vehicles.

There are two outdoor areas, spacious living rooms designed to let in plenty of natural light, a gourmet kitchen with quality appliances, a covered terrace for barbecues, and a garden.

It was one of 696 properties up for auction in Sydney on Saturday.

Domain Group posted a preliminary auction settlement rate of 73.5 percent of 437 results on the day.

While the property still sold for a high price, Sydney is one of three major Australian cities currently reporting a significant decline in prices.

Property prices in the capital city in January fell another 1.1 percent for an annual decline of 8.7 percent, making it the most dramatic drop on CoreLogic’s records since 1981.

However, price drops would still do little to undo increases in value between 2020 and 2022.

This means home affordability remains much worse than it was before the pandemic, leaving fewer options for first-time homebuyers as rising interest rates further limit what banks can do. lend.

Sydney is Australia’s hardest-hit market by far, as median house prices have plunged 15% in the year to January to $1,205,618, marking the biggest annual drop since 1983.

Prices in Sydney peaked in January last year, when interest rates were still at a record low of 0.1 percent.