Nervous buyer exits auction race for $2.41 million Dulwich Hill home

“We buy first and then sell, which is a bit stressful in a falling market, but it worked out well,” he said. “It’s great to give our house over to another family with kids.”

Four of the five registered bidders competed for the house, but needed a few pushes to start bidding. Credit:Peter Rae

Sales agent William Pereira, from Adrian William, had been expecting seven buyers, but two came out at the last minute, deciding to watch the auction from the sidelines.

Pereira said news of rising interest rates and falling prices had made buyers a little more cautious in their approach, but noted there was still good buyer demand.

White predicts it will be his strongest auction of the day, with only one or two bidders expected at the other three auctions he calls on Saturday.

“It’s great to have such a strong offering … that’s rare nowadays,” he said.

While rising interest rates put downward pressure on prices, as it affects buyers’ borrowing power, he feels the pullback in buyer confidence has had a bigger effect.

“Buyers are moving in droves, so the fact that everyone knows the market is going down, and the fact that they anticipate it’s going to drop further, makes everyone a lot less confident … driven by fear.”

In Wahroonga, a six-bedroom house with a tennis court sold for $13.03 million, setting a new suburban record and trading at more than $2 million above reserve price.

Eight buyers signed up to bid at 27 Braeside Street, which has a $10 million price guide.

The bid opened at $9 million, and went up in six-figure increments, with three parties making the offer. The expatriate family returning from Hong Kong wins.

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Records show the 2,484-square-meter block last traded for $4,045,000 in 2017, when it was purchased by anesthesiologists David Woods and Alexandra Woods. The pair rebuilt on the block in 2020.

Sales agents Tim Fraser of Di Jones and Adam McKay of Ray White’s Upper North Shore said the results were well above their expectations.

McKay said many properties at that price level were sold before auction, fearing there would not be enough competition.

“We knew we had an interest there, so wanted an auction. To get eight bidders listed on a property with a $10 million show guide … there’s a lot of depth in the market for buyers at that price level,” McKay said.

Fraser adds that upscale homebuyers are not as affected by rising interest rates as other buyers, and many have built up a lot of equity in their existing homes during the property boom.

In the south, a four-bedroom home in Taren Point sold for $1.85 million, well above the $1.35 million home that was last traded less than two years ago before a major renovation.

Of the six buyers who signed up to bid at 34 Curtis Avenue, three made bids, with bids starting at $1.6 million and initially increasing in leaps of $25,000.

Bidding stalled at $1.83 million, the highest bidder then raised their bid to a reserve price of $1.85 million, after negotiations on the auction floor.

The 645 square meter block was sold through Trent Tarbey, of McGrath Sans Souci, to the extended family of Dolls Point. The seller also stepped up, to the house just down the road.

In Alexandria, the two-bedroom townhouse at 14/18-20 Newton Street is for sale for $1.14 million through Brad Gillespie of The Agency Eastern Suburbs.

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First home buyers, upsizers, and investors compete for keys. Bidding opened at $900,000, and quickly passed the $950,000 price guide, with four of the seven registered buyers making offers. A north coast investor beat the locals to buy a 139 square meter block.

The result is $90,000 above the reserve price, and well above the $640,000 property last sold in 2013.

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