Sydney’s housing market failed to take the big hit some expected this weekend, with auctions continuing online with some success.
Nearly 200 homes went under the hammer via online platforms in what was the first Saturday of sales since Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison banned on-site and in-room auctions as part of measures to contain coronavirus.
It was also the first time online auctions were conducted on such a large scale, providing a test of whether the technology could be a suitable alternative to on-site auctions.
The final auction clearance rate will not be available until next week but chief auctioneer Scott Kennedy Green at McGrath real estate agency said early results were “encouraging”.
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Among the biggest sales was the A$3.375 million paid for a four-bedroom house in the Sydney North Shore suburb of Hunters Hill. The price was A$1.45 million higher than what the property sold for in 2014, sales records showed.
A tiny one-bedroom unit in central Sydney that went to market with an A$800,000 guide price sold for A$1.208 million. The bidding opened at A$650,000 but the price was dragged up across more than 100 bids from the eight registered parties.
About 130 people watched the Hunters Hill sale via online stream and Mr Kennedy Green said there was a similar pattern at other auctions.
“There was a lot of interest from buyers and sellers in how the process would unfold. It’s still early days for the uptake (of the technology),” he said.
The general pace of most online auctions was slower than on-site sales and some buyers appeared to be registering in the hope of getting a discount.
One auctioneer had to reject three offers for a house because they were too low, including one offer more than A$600,000 below the guide price.
There were also technical glitches at the same auction when a bid placed online was received after the auctioneer dropped the hammer. It was accepted because there was a technical delay. The property sold for A$1.502 million.
Another technical issue saw Ray White auctioneer James Keenan knocked back an offer because it appeared the bidder made a typo. The home eventually sold for A$1.415 million, A$85,000 over the reserve.
Auctioneer Stu Benson, fresh off the A$1.405 million sale of a four-bedroom house in the city, said there were still active buyers and sellers in the market. “The reality is that many people simply have to sell or buy a home right now,” he said. “The transaction of real estate via auction is still possible, regardless of what’s going on.”
More than 1200 Sydney homes were scheduled to go under the hammer before the on-site auction ban was announced. More than 400 have since reverted to private treaty sales.
In New Zealand, real estate agencies are preparing to hold online auctions aimd the lockdown.
Megan Jaffe, who owns and runs Ray White Remuera, in Auckland, said that the company had been preparing for the lockdown for some time, so had already nutted out videos for virtual walk throughs using Google Hangout.
"We've got vendors who will walk through the property, with their agent doing the talking. The house will be nice and clean. Even my hairdresser has been watching how to do Loom and Zoom to show me how to dye my own hair!"
Jaffe said the time-out offered her agency the perfect chance to completely re-tool and re-structure how they did real estate, so that when the lockdown was over "we'll be up and running and transacting first".
Agent Steen Nielsen said that while personal viewings were off the table, there were still "buyers who will crawl over broken glass to get the right property" and his vendors would be given virtual walk throughs.
Ray White Remuera’s head of growth and performance Mark Covich says his team is working remotely. Last week he told OneRoof that the group was using the online auction program Gavl, which allows potential buyers to tune into the auction but the app doesn’t let you place bids in New Zealand yet.
“People can watch the auction live but they will have to bid through the telephone with the selected agent, which they’ll have to pre-register for.”
- Source: news.com.au; additional reporting OneRoof.co.nz
