Young families on the hunt for their first freestanding house dominated many of Sydney’s auctions Saturday, blowing investors and developers out of contention for a multitude of properties.

The families, who had often sold up apartments or townhouses to fund their purchases, were particularly active in Sydney’s northwest and southwest.

Competition for a four-bedroom house in Ryde turned red hot when 12 bidders registered for the auction and pushed the price to $1.66 million, more than $200,000 over reserve.

Selling agent Phillip Allison of Belle Property-Hunters Hill issued close to 50 contracts of sale prior to the auction and said most of the interest was from young families keen to upgrade to their first house.

“These buyers are probably the most active in our market right now,” he said.

Bidding for 29 Fawcett St started at $1.35 million. The buyers were an upsizing family.

CoreLogic records showed the home had lost sold in 2009 for $640,000.

In nearby Epping, 201B Midson Rd sold under the hammer for $1.731 million.

The five-bedroom house had been one of the most viewed properties on realestate.com.au this week in the lead up to its auction, piquing the interest of families.

The home was one of only 250-odd properties to go under the hammer across Sydney this weekend, a similar number to last weekend when 73 per cent of auctions cleared — a year-high.

CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said homeowners who listed in the current market would have an advantage because most other would-be sellers were holding off listing until spring.

“Auction volumes tend to be low in winter, but they are unusually low at the moment even when you factor in the season,” Mr Brogan said. “There has also been a pronounced increase in buyers so it may be a good time to be selling.”

Source copy:https://www.realestate.com.au/news/families-upgrading-from-units-to-houses-rule-sydneys-auction-market/