Unremarkable brick house sells for $2.6million over reserve in Canley Heights, Sydney

A nondescript suburban brick home has sold for as much as $2.6 million above the reserve price.

The three-bedroom house in Canley Heights, western Sydney, sold at auction on October 21 for a whopping $4.6 million.

The property, which measures 741 square meters and has a facade width of 15.3 meters, was for sale for four weeks before it was snapped up by a Vietnamese family.

A property advertisement for the house described it as a ‘well appointed single storey brick veneer family home’ with a spacious interior, an original kitchen/diner, a large double carport with a garden shed to the rear and a substantial workshop to the rear.

It also features a private outdoor area to the rear with a garden setting.

Auctioneer Mark King said he was surprised at the final sale price and admitted he thought it would sell for somewhere ‘in the $2 million range’.

“What was surprising was that we started with $1.5 million and ten minutes later we were at $4.6 million,” he told the Australian Financial Statement

Green Valley sales agents Peter Ly and Thuy Dung Helena Mai admitted that the sale price was huge.

“I think we have achieved a fantastic result, but I do believe the price is higher than what it should be and what most people expected,” Mr Ly said.

“I think you were looking for between $2 and $2.5 million: $2.5 million would have been the price it should have reached on any given day. If it had reached $3 million it would have done exceptionally well’.

Mr Ly said there were three groups keen to secure the property, which was ‘as close to local shops as possible’ and adjacent to a 30-space council car park.

Ms Mai suggested the interest in the house was due to ‘R4 zoning and the location and size of the lot’, but admitted it needed ‘a lot of work inside’.

The home, which sold for as much as $2.6 million above the reserve price, is described as “in need of a lot of work.”

Mt Ly said the three bidders for the property were not from the area and the buyers were a husband and wife from Vietnam.

“The other two were a syndicate from the eastern suburbs and an underbidder from Milsons Point,” he said.

When asked why the couple was willing to pay so much, the woman replied: “If my husband likes something, he should get it.”

It is understood the buyers were parents buying a house for their three children, who were all in Australia to study.

Ms Mai said the mother told her the home’s proximity to shops and Vietnamese restaurants was a strong selling point.

Mr Ly said he believes “Southeast Asians are coming to Australia and doing what the Chinese did five to 10 years ago.”

Green Valley sales agent Peter Ly said many Southeast Asian and South Vietnamese people were buying and moving to the Cabramatta-Canley Heights area

“What I think from the international buyers is that their money is safer in Australia than at home,” he said.

“The fear of the government taking away or freezing their money is probably much greater than this happening in Australia.”

Mr Ly said it was mainly South East Asian and South Vietnamese people who bought and moved to the Cabramatta-Canley Heights area.

“Yes, there is money coming into Australia from Vietnam, but they are buying normally priced properties. Something that doubled the reserve is really unheard of,” he said.

“When I see a $2.6 million surplus in Bondi for a $10 million waterfront property, that’s expected – look at the view, the location.

‘You don’t see that in the west or southwest. I can not explain. It’s something I would see from Seinfeld.