A STRIKING architecturally-designed home on Bar Beach's prized Memorial Drive sold at auction on Saturday for $4.23 million but the competition was far from fierce.
Only one of two buyers on-site registered to bid on the property which spent 130 days on the market.
The home at 62 Memorial Drive, first listed in October with PRD's Jesse Wilton with a guide of $5.5 million, was set to go to auction in November.
"We originally planned to put the house to auction in November but the owners weren't ready to sell at that point so we postponed it to the new year," Mr Wilton said.
"After Christmas and the interest rate rises they made the decision to just get it done."
A report released by CoreLogic last week revealed that expensive houses in the Hunter region have taken a bigger price hit over the past year than properties in the lower end of the market.
It showed that the priciest 25 per cent of houses in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have dropped 10.9 per cent in value in the past 12 months, while more affordable home values have fallen 5.9 per cent.
Houses are also spending longer on the market. The average is now 41 days compared with 18 days a year ago.
"It's taking more time to sell but that all comes down to the quality of buyers. There are not a lot of buyers getting finance at the moment," the agent said.
"I think the brave buyers at the moment are the ones that are going to capitalise."
Despite selling for more than $4 million, the auction result presented considerable value for the address.
In 2022, Memorial Drive was named the most expensive street in regional NSW after a rapid rise in luxury home sales placed it as the priciest address in regional NSW with a median value of almost $7 million.
Auction activity continued to rise last week.
A total of 38 auctions were held across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie with a clearance rate of 80.8 per cent, according to CoreLogic.
That figure is up from 21 auctions the week before with a clearance rate of 76.2 per cent recorded across the region.
We spoke to listing agent Jesse Wilton about the auction at 62 Memorial Drive:
The property: Villa Azul, a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home positioned on 600 square metres directly opposite the Anzac Memorial Walk with coastal views from Bar Beach to Dudley Bluff. Built by the vendors two decades ago in collaboration with architect Tone Wheeler, who is known for his environmentally sustainable designs, and builder Bruce Keevers, the energy-efficient tri-level home featured striking exterior cladding, large windows and 20 solar panels.
Agent and agency: Jesse Wilton from PRD Presence.
How many registered bidders? We had two buyers present but only one buyer registered. Even though it had an existing home, it was basically a knockdown rebuild. To most buyers who inquired about the property throughout the campaign, it was a knockdown. The buyer who purchased it will live in it and then eventually they will build a new home.
Where were the buyers from? They were all local. The majority of inquiry we had throughout the campaign was from local buyers.
How did the auction unfold? We only had one registered bidder and it opened up at $4 million and then we negotiated it up to $4.23 million. The reserve was a little bit higher but the owners were committed to selling on the day.
Why was this property special? It had been in that family for close to 50 years. There is such big hype around Memorial Drive these days too and living at the address due to its beachfront location. It was one of the few opportunities to buy on that street where it had potential as a knockdown rebuild. All of the other homes on that strip have either been renovated or built in recent years whereas this one, you're obviously getting in a bit cheaper but you had to do a bit more work. You would still spend about $2 million to $3 million on the build but it was a good buy in that respect.
Was the result a surprise? No, the market feedback had trended very closely to what it sold for at the auction.
