Renovated Surry Hills terrace passed in for less than its last sale price

A Surry Hills terrace failed to sell at auction on Saturday and will be made available for rent after the only registered bidder offered $2.3 million, falling short of the vendor’s expectations.

The renovated three-bedroom home at 97 Fitzroy Street has exposed brick walls, oak floors, high ceilings, a breakfast bar and a study nook. It had been listed with a price guide of $2.5 million, the same price it last sold for in 2024.

The property was one of 631 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 54 per cent from 369 reported results throughout the week, while 114 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The early read on the clearance rate is the same as last week, but it is likely to be revised a few percentage points lower as more results are collected. It remains well below the 60 per cent threshold that is considered a sign of a market balanced between buyers and sellers.

One bidder registered for the auction of the Surry Hills terrace and made an offer of $2.2 million, then they bid against themselves up to $2.3 million.

But with no further offers, the home was passed in. The vendor’s reserve was $2.65 million.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Another party expressed interest after the auction but the home had not been sold by time of publication, and the seller is unable to enter into a lengthy negotiation.

McGrath Surry Hills selling agent Wes Smuts said the seller was moving overseas imminently and would no longer be an Australian resident for tax purposes. Since the property had not been sold before the vendor’s deadline, when they leave they will lose tax residency, the home would instead be rented out, he said.

He said many deals were being done prior to auction or post auction as this offered more certainty than going to auction in this market.

“Sellers now, you need to have a specific reason,” he said, such as upgrading or downsizing. “I don’t think anyone is selling speculatively now.”

He said first home-buyer properties up to $1.5 million were selling under competition but upsizers and discretionary purchasers were taking longer.

Elsewhere, a Maroubra semi sold for $2,316,000 under the hammer to a couple who are overseas and had never inspected it.

The three-bedroom house at 12 Chichester Street had been an investment property and had $25,000 worth of renovations done before being offered to the market with a price guide of $2.25 million.