A very Sydney Saturday

(photos taken on my iPhone)
Nothing obsesses a true Sydney-sider more than real estate - the price of their own property, the amount their neighbour expects for theirs, the value added by a "water glimpse", or their feigned disinterest in it all (ha! don't believe it for a moment!). One way to spend Saturdays is out tyre-kicking, looking at open houses, and attending auctions. Now you might think that because the world is in the middle of an economic meltdown that housing might be off the boil in Sydney. And there you would be wrong. It has gone down a bit at the top end (the multi, multi million dollar places), but in the middle and lower markets, it's still bubbling away. (Australia, by the way, is the only G20 country NOT in recession).

I thought I'd meander along to have a look at this rather nice place not far from where I live. Auctioneer, Tony Gardner has been selling houses in Bexley and surrounds for 30 years (and I reckon he could do a nice sideline in Kevin Rudd impersonations). He sold my mum and dad's place.

So to business. The bidding opened at 750 thousand, and then the bids went: $800k, $810K, $820K ...nice and steady. Then a confident bid of $850K, seeking to blast the opposition out of the race. OK, so at $850, it was called "on the market...which means it has reached the reserve price and will sell. Someone decided to slow it down...$851K, then $870K, $871K, $880K, $881K, $900K, $901K ....the cat and mouse game was on. Confidence reigned and the bids went $910K, $920K, $930K, $940K, $950K, $965K, $970K, $975K, $980K, $985K, $990K, $995K, $1 million, $1,005,000, $1,006,000, $1,007,000, $1,008,000 and, finally it was knocked down at $1,010,000. There were 16 registered bidders, and I think about 4 took part.

So there you are, property moguls, that's what one million and ten thousand dollars could buy you on a sunny September Saturday in a middle-distance bog-ordinary Sydney suburb, under the airport flight path. A nicely renovated 1930s house, with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a new kitchen/family room and second living room. A garage and carport, and a couple of sheds, on an 803 square metre block. (There's another shed at the bottom of the yard. And don't forget you get the Hills Hoist as well :- In fact, houses in Australia are usaully sold with light fittings, curtains, carpets, oven and cooktops and rangehoods and frequently dishwasher as well if it is fitted and not worth moving).