Family beats 10 others to $3.3m designer semi after six-month search

A family paid $3,388,000 for a luxurious five-bedroom semi in Burwood at auction on Saturday, beating 10 other registered bidders and ending a six-month search.

The turnkey designer duplex at 14 Lindsay Street came with a striking, low-maintenance rock and cactus garden and a price guide of $2.5 million.

UNDER CONTRACT $3,388,000

14 Lindsay Street, Burwood NSW 2134

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The sleek property has an open-plan living area, and one bedroom with an ensuite on the top floor and four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the ground floor.

Bidding opened at $2.5 million, and five parties were active. Bids of $100,000 took the price to $3 million, where it met the reserve.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Then $20,000 and $10,000 bids ensued until $3,380,000, followed by an offer of $5000 bid, then a final $3000 bid sold it under the hammer for $3,388,000. The winners were a family from Croydon and the underbidder was from Rodd Point.

Selling agent Norman So from Belle Property Strathfield said the left side of the property, which sold, was a suburb record for a semi.

“They’ve held the land for a number of years,” he said. The vendors tried to sell the previous home on the block last year, and it reached $3 million at auction, which was less than what they were hoping for. “So they decided to knock down the house and build a pair of duplexes,” he said.

The address last traded for $2.2 million in 2018, records show.

The property was one of 703 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 72.7 per cent from 439 reported results, while 75 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Ryde, another five-bedroom glamorous duplex at 34A Watts Road sold at auction.

SOLD - $2,630,000

34A Watts Road, Ryde NSW 2112

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With a guided range of $2.3 million to $2.53 million, the home sold for $30,000 above its $2.6 million reserve – $2.63 million.

Five parties registered, mostly young families from in and around the local area, and four were active.

Bidding opened at $2.3 million with $50,000, $20,000 and $10,000 increases. It was called on the market towards the end, and it sold under the hammer, a final $5000 bid securing the keys for a couple from Marsfield.

Selling agent Chris Pennisi from Pello Northern Suburbs said turnkey duplexes pique a lot of buyers’ interest. “They’ve got all the comforts … and so a lot of people would rather go for that, than an old free-standing house, which needs a fair bit spent on it,” he said.

“Most people have been looking around for a while, they’re looking to finish their journey and buy something. But … properties that are turnkey, don’t need too much spent on them, and in good locations – they’re still really highly sought after,” he said.

The site last traded for $1.62 million in 2017.

In Strathfield, an 853.7 square metre block of land with a four-bedroom house on it was sold for $4.91 million for land value only.

SOLD - $4,910,000

2-4 Cotswold Road, Strathfield NSW 2135

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Located in the Golden Mile at 2-4 Cotswold Road, it attracted six registrations at auction, all developers.

It was guided at $4.6 million, and bidding opened just below the guide at $4.5 million.

Three buyers were active with $100,000 bids until $4.8 million, then $10,000 bids were shot out until $4.9 million, where it met reserve. The house was called on the market and then a final $10,000 bid sold it under the hammer for $4.91 million.

Selling agent Tarun Sethi from McGrath Strathfield said “they’re going to knock down and rebuild a three-level home with a basement.”

Sethi said the market is “still performing quite well, despite it being in the heart of winter and during school holidays.”

The vendors are moving interstate.

Chief economist at PRD, Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, said Domain’s clearance rate of 72.7 per cent comes as the Sydney market rises in price.

“So I’m not surprised that things are picking up and it’s a momentum thing, but it’s still not the strong Sydney that we normally have,” she said.

Mardiasmo said the biggest driver at the moment was a fall in interest rates and that many people were gearing up for the possibility of another drop in the official cash rate in August. She said people wanted to get in before what might be “a rush in demand”.