FEDERATION SEMI BEATS RECORD
BY MICHELLE SINGER
Sydney Morning Herald, 2005
It took 40 minutes and 40 bids yesterday for a Federation semi in Randwick to better the record it set two years ago.
The three-bedroom, single-level home on Centennial Avenue sold in 2003 for $1,285,000, a record price for a single-level semi in Randwick.
Fast forward two years and, despite no renovations or major improvements, the record was again broken when the property sold for $1,395,000.
“There’s a shortage of premium quality properties in this area,” McGrath estate agent Stephen McMorrow said.
Up to eight groups registered to bid, with five parties taking part.
Bidding opened at $1.09 million and moved solidly towards $1.25 million before stalling. But the auction took off again with two parties trading $5000 bids, pushing the price $95,000 above reserve.
“The market has gone down but I think it’s correcting,” Mr McMorrow said. “As you can see from today’s results you’ve got to work hard for it.”
The successful purchaser, a current eastern suburbs resident, was represented by Change of Address agent Janne Sutcliffe.
Ms Sutcliffe said the auction had been a lot tougher than she had expected, thanks to strong competition. “I knew it was going to be popular and I wanted to wait until the property had come onto the market before making a bid,” she said.
“It was a nice little property that had been renovated with a lot of care. It still had a lot of its original features and had a practical modern interior. Sometimes you can’t explain why a property sells well, some properties just have a feeling about them.” …