A hopeful homebuyer has criticised Australia’s housing market after a property they wanted to purchase sold for $1million above its price guide.
The four-bedroom home at 10 Murray Street Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner-west, sold for $2.91million at auction on Saturday, despite having a price guide of $1.9million that was later adjusted guide to $2million.
Bidding opened at $2.35million and quickly soared past the property’s $2.4million reserve before a father from Bellevue Hill won the auction with a $2.91million bid, purchasing the home for his daughter.
After the auction, one of the bidders expressed their disappointment and said they were stunned by the final sale price of $2.9million, given the original price guide.
‘This seems like an example of an extreme unethical approach with unrealistic guides,’ they explained.
‘I can understand them setting the guide 10-30 per cent under what they really think it’ll go for, but this is wild.
‘The winning bidder was a wealthy dad who was clearly making an emotional purchase for his daughter, so am I right in thinking this is a fluke?
‘Make it make sense. Is there someone I can lodge a formal complaint with about the under-guiding?’
The four-bedroom home in Marrickville, in Sydney’s Inner-West, sold for $2.91million – more than $1million above the property’s original price guide
One of the active bidders slammed the price guide as ‘unrealistic’ and questioned whether auctions across the country were being won by ’emotional’ buyers. Pictured: Stock image of an auction
Aussies said the winning bid was not out of the ordinary, and many auctions are won by those who have money and are making an emotional purchase.
‘That’s the thing about all the underquoting complaints. Everyone is willing to put in ‘just a bit more’ to win the house,’ one person commented.
‘We spent 18 months actively looking in the inner-west,’ a second wrote.
‘From our experience, what happened to you is sadly not unheard of and was almost expected by the end of our search.’
‘Emotional purchases are what the agent wants. So, more the norm than not. And also because of the general unethical nature of the entire sector, under-quoting is rife,’ a third said.
A fourth advised: ‘Just ignore price guides. Compare to similar sales in the area and set your expectations from there.’
Others slammed the bidder for their final bid of $2.7million – $800,000 above the guide – claiming they were part of the problem.
‘You bid $800,000 above advertised price. EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND. Dude. You’re part of the problem as much as the $2.9m bidder,’ one person wrote.
‘They went 800k over and making it sound like just the other buyer is the problem,’ a second person added.
The man, from Bellevue Hill, who purchased the property had inspected the home only 30 minutes before the auction.
He bought the property for his daughter, who had fallen in love with the home and told him she wanted to move back into the area.
The daughter had previously rented in the neighbouring suburb of Newtown before returning to live with her parents in Bellevue Hill.
The house’s value more than quadrupled in price, with records showing it was last sold in 2007 for just $625,000.
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