Sydney apartment sells for A$981,000 as buyers weigh renovation costs

A young couple bought their first home at a Marrickville auction on October 10, paying A$981,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. Selling agent Norman Tran said buyers’ sensitivity to prices was requiring vendors to adjust their expectations.

The home at 2/35-37 Pile Street sits in a block of 10 apartments. The successful buyers, who had been renting locally, were attracted to the small building and its quiet, tree-lined street. Their purchase price is corroborated by property sale listings.

Bidding opened at A$950,000, matching the advertised guide, and rose in steps of A$5,000 and A$1,000. It stalled at A$976,000 before further bids took it to the eventual sale price. The other active bidder was an owner-occupier seeking to return to Marrickville from north-west Sydney, while the vendor wanted a larger home.

Tran, of Adrian William, told The Sydney Morning Herald that the size of the bidding increments reflected continued price sensitivity. He also said properties requiring no immediate renovation had an advantage because buyers were reluctant to absorb additional work costs. Those observations are the agent’s assessment of buyer behaviour rather than a citywide measure of prices.

The report also described a five-bedroom home with a pool in Sutherland selling for A$1.88 million to a couple expecting their first child. Three of four registered parties bid for the property at 24a Glencoe Street. Its guide was A$1.7 million and its reserve A$1.8 million. Pulse Property Agents’ Luke Lombardi characterised that auction as quick and effective.