A home on a sought-after street in Merewether drew competition from two bidders at auction on Saturday before selling "well above" its reserve, according to listing agent Damon Sellis.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 248 Morgan Street sold under the hammer for $1.36 million.
Street Property listing agent Mr Sellis said the property attracted around 40 groups at the open house inspections throughout the campaign.
"Merewether always has really strong enquiry rates but it's about the genuine committal buyers in the market at the moment, not about enquiries," the agent said.
It capped of a big week of auctions across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie for the week ending April 2.
According to CoreLogic, there were 41 auctions scheduled across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie last week which recorded a clearance rate of 80 per cent.
Several listings sold prior to auction over the weekend while others that went ahead as scheduled achieved big results.
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 21 Alexander Parade, Hamilton South that earned the Newcastle garden of the year title in 2022 sold for $2.4 million at auction on Saturday with Spillane Property's Donna Spillane.
In Merewether, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 81 Merewether Street also sold for a big sum after pulling in $2.22 million at auction on Saturday with Dalton Partners' David Phelan.
We spoke with the agent about the auction and the result of 248 Morgan Street, Merewether:
The property: An original three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick and tile home on 557 square metres at 248 Morgan Street, Merewether with a north-facing backyard.
Agent and agency: Damon Sellis from Street Property.
The result: The property sold under the hammer for $1.36 million.
How many registered bidders? We had five registered bidders. The averages at auctions are one to three registrations across Newcastle at the moment and we are hoping to pick up those averages again now. Out of those five registrations only two actively bid.
How did the auction unfold? The opening bid was $1 million. We placed a vendor bid of $1.15 million and then it just took off from there. We had 17 bids in total and the two bidders were going toe-to-toe, no one wanted to let go and then eventually only one could win. It was beautiful family estate and there were lots of emotions there but it was a great result for all. It is showing that confidence is starting to come back into the market for property and, again, it is Merewether so there is always good strength for anything close to the water.
Where were the bidders from? They were all locals but this property attracted quite a wide range of different buyers looking at it from a family home to live in, some were looking at it to knockdown rebuild and others were looking at it as an investment.
What made this property special? It was in a very good position, a good block of land and it was a good home that had really good bones. It was a beautiful brick home and yes, it was dated and it was older and it needed some work but overall, it was a great home. It's in a beautiful location with lots of great neighbours and community around it so that really appealed to buyers.
Was the result a surprise? Yes, the result was a surprise. We always knew it had potential but the market has been coming back slowly this year so every auction campaign is a little bit different. We were a little surprised to see the result but we were all very happy with it.
