A hopeful homebuyer has criticized Australia’s housing market after a property they wanted to buy sold for $1 million above guide price.
The four-bedroom house at 10 Murray Street Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner west, sold at auction on Saturday for $2.91 million, despite a guide price of $1.9 million, which was later adjusted to $2 million.
Bidding started at $2.35 million and quickly rose past the $2.4 million reserve before a Bellevue Hill father won the auction with a bid of $2.91 million and bought the house for his daughter.
After the auction, one of the bidders expressed disappointment, saying they were dismayed by the final sale price of $2.9 million given the original price guideline.
“This appears to be an example of an extremely unethical approach with unrealistic guidelines,” they explained.
“I can understand them setting the guidance 10 to 30 percent lower than what they really think it will yield, but this is wild.
‘The winning bidder was a wealthy father who clearly made an emotional purchase for his daughter, so am I right to think this is a fluke?
‘Make it meaningful. Can I file a formal complaint with someone about the under-support?’
The four-bedroom home in Marrickville, in Sydney’s Inner-West, sold for $2.91 million – more than $1 million above the property’s original list price
One of the active bidders branded the price list as ‘unrealistic’ and questioned whether auctions across the country were being won by ’emotional’ buyers. Pictured: stock photo from an auction
Aussies said the winning bid was not unusual, and many auctions are won by people who have money and make an emotional purchase.
‘That’s the problem with all those complaints about quotes being too low. Everyone is willing to bet ‘just a little more’ to win the house,” said one person.
“We have been actively searching the Inner West for 18 months,” wrote a second.
“From our experience, what happened to you is unfortunately not unheard of and was almost expected at the end of our search.”
‘Emotional purchases are what the agent wants. So more likely to be the norm than not. And also due to the general unethical nature of the entire sector, underquoting is rife,” said a third.
A fourth advised: ‘Just ignore the pricing guidelines. Compare with comparable sales in the region and set your expectations from there.’
Others condemned the bidder for their final offer of $2.7 million – $800,000 above guideline – and claimed they were part of the problem.
‘You offer €800,000 above the advertised price. EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND. Guy. You are as much part of the problem as the $2.9 million bidder,” one person wrote.
“They’ve passed the 800,000 mark and it seems like the only problem is the other buyer,” a second person added.
The Bellevue Hill man who bought the property had inspected the house just 30 minutes before the auction.
He bought the property for his daughter, who fell in love with the house and told him she wanted to move back to the area.
The daughter had previously rented in the neighboring suburb of Newtown before returning to her parents in Bellevue Hill.
The home has more than quadrupled in value, and records show it last sold in 2007 for just $625,000.