Auctioneer Alex Pattaro calls bids on a Chiswick house sold for $4.6m. Picture: David Swift

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A dated four-bedroom house in Chiswick requiring about $1 million in renovations to bring it up to the standard of surrounding homes sold at auction yesterday for just over $4.6 million.

The Hezlet St property has prized water views and sits on a tightly-held part of the popular inner west peninsula suburb, but the house was beginning to show its age, with fittings and features relatively unchanged since the 1970s.

Eleven bidders registered for the auction and selling agent Mario Carbone reported they were a mix of novice renovators and builders keen to replace the house with a modern dwelling. The hammer dropped at $4.605 million.

The Ray White-Drummoyne agent said the auction started with a lower than expected bid, but the tempo increased rapidly with bidding increments of $300,000 and $200,000.

The tempo changed again once the bidding passed $4 million due to most of the builders dropping out. The buyer was reported to be a family considering a renovation.

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Mr Carbone would not disclose if the vendors needed to drop their reserve to push through the sale, commenting only that: “the vendors are very happy”.

He pointed to the sale of a block across the street for $4.4 million in December, which he said was a better offering in a stronger market. Mr Carbone estimated the home sold on Saturday needed $1 million in upgrades.

Ray White chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said the Hezlet St auction was a good representation of the current market.

The Chiswick house has water views. Picture: David Swift

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“Good quality stock is still selling well,” he said. “Anything above $3.5 million is still pretty sought after. It’s those cheaper areas where it’s a little harder to sell right now.”

Ms Carbone said one of the factors that helped the Chiswick house attract interest at auction was its rarity. “It hadn’t been offered to market since 1975,” he said.

“That peninsula is tightly held. There is a lot of old money there and they don’t like to move … if you missed out, you wouldn’t have a chance like that again any time soon.”

The auction was one of 758 scheduled across Sydney this week, but recent data suggested the majority of auctions were not going ahead. Instead, most were either selling in pre-auction deals or the vendors were withdrawing them from auction altogether. In a slower market, both were often a sign of lacklustre buyer interest.

The auction attracted a crowd.

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The inner west had some of the biggest sales this week.

A luxury duplex on Patterson St sold for $3.05 million in front of a crowd of hopeful buyers who were squeezed into the lounge to escape the rain. It’s one of the highest prices ever paid for a semi in the suburb.

In Camperdown, a tired-looking four-bedroom terrace on Fowler St sold for $2.86 million, beating the reserve by $360,000.

5 Fowler St, Camperdown sold for $380,000 over reserve.

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Auctioneer Edward Riley, who called the auction on behalf of agent Michael Harris of Raine and Horne, said it was a “rare offering” and this helped attract five registered bidders.

DUPLEX POTENTIAL PUSHES UP PRICE

Half a dozen bidders vied for a property with duplex potential in Sutherland Shire suburb Caringbah and the strong competition pushed the price to $1.84 million.

46 Crammond Boulevard, Caringbah.

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Auctioneer Andrew Cooley, director of Avenue Auctions, said it was a strong result for the Crammond Blvd site considering the vendors paid $1.4 million four years ago.

“It was tenanted, they did nothing to it,” he said.

The agent, Wendy Samrani of Ray White Caringbah, reported the buyer was an investor. “Both buyers and sellers are quite motivated at the moment,” she said.

THREE MAGIC WORDS BIDDERS WANT TO HEAR

A four-bedroom house described in the listing as the “King” of Gledswood Hills sold for marginally over the reserve at an auction attended by five bidders.

35 Amberley St, Gledswood Hills.

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The price for the Amberley St house was $1.268 million, which was marginally above the $1.25 million reserve.

Auctioneer Michael Garofolo said the auction kicked into a higher gear once the property was called “on the market”.

“We’re finding this a lot,” he said. “Buyers want to know they are dealing with a serious seller, so they will sometimes sit on the sidelines doing nothing until they know the home is on the market.

“One bidder in this auction sat on his hands for 25 minutes, but suddenly came out at the end. Some bidders won’t show their hand until it’s up for keeps.”