First home buyer gets a $40,000 discount on art deco Potts Point pad

September 6, 2026 — 3:14pmA first home buyer with parental support paid $1.46 million for an apartment in an art deco building in Potts Point at auction on Saturday, as the vendors adjusted down their price guide to sell.The stylish two-bedroom home at 27/7 Springfield Avenue has high ceilings and period details, as well as access to a communal rooftop terrace.The property was one of 709 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 57 per cent from 433 reported results throughout the week, while 125 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.On the first weekend of spring, Sydney’s auction market showed that it had lifted off its June lows, when the preliminary clearance rate dropped as low as 47 per cent. But more of homes are likely to hit the market as the season continues and that will give buyers more choice, albeit not as much as in an average spring selling season.Five parties registered to bid for the Potts Point home, which had been offered with a price guide of $1.4 million, and two participated in the auction.Proceedings began at $1.4 million and it took just three bids for the hammer to fall, Ray White Touma Taylor selling agent Renee Cross said.The vendors were three beneficiaries of a deceased estate who had set a reserve of $1.5 million but who had flexibility to adjust on the day. The winning bidder was a local first home buyer with parental support, Cross said.There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.Cross said the home had been appraised five months ago at a range of $1.4 million to $1.5 million, and that it had held within that range since then despite broader market softness.“Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay are resilient markets,” she said. “Five people wanting to buy it is definitely reflective of the area.”Cross and her colleagues had about eight open homes on Saturday. She described it as a positive day. “We felt there was a stronger sense of genuine buyers in the market,” she said.In Bardwell Valley, a grand sandstone house sold for $3,315,000 in a fast-paced auction.The renovated four-bedroom home known as Forsythe at 57 Hannam Street, which dates to circa 1867, had been listed with a guide of $3 million to $3.3 million and had a reserve set at $3.2 million.Bidding began at $3 million, the bottom of the price guide, and a family from the inner west traded bids with a couple from the eastern suburbs in increments such as $25,000 and $10,000.The eastern suburbs couple won. The vendors are selling for a lifestyle change.“There is activity,” said McGrath Leichhardt selling agent Alexandra Stamatiou-Buda, speaking broadly about the market. “I feel that buyers have re-entered the market, thinking it has levelled out.”She had noticed some buyers whose home loan pre-approvals had expired go back to their bank and realise their borrowing capacity had been reduced, prompting them to realise they need to purchase while they can. Others wanted to transact before Christmas, she said.In the inner west, a local couple paid $1.07 million for a Wareemba apartment in another bidding war.The two-bedroom home at 1/169-175 Hampden Road had a fresh coat of paint, a north-eastern aspect and a price guide of $900,000.Five parties registered to bid, of whom three were likely to live in the boutique block of 16 units.Three participated, moving from a first bid of $900,000 quickly to the reserve price of $950,000, then surpassing it. A couple who live locally won.The vendor was an owner-occupier who bought the home 38 years ago for $118,500.The Agency Drummoyne selling agent Joe Kanaan said a mix of investors, first home buyers and owner-occupiers had been interested in the home.“Depending on the property, the apartment market in the area is tracking quite well. We are seeing plenty of younger buyers at inspections every week,” he said, which he thought was due to the relative affordability factor.“There is still plenty of transactions happening, just not at the rapid rate it was in 2025, but there is still plenty of people willing to commit to properties.“I have seen a few more people out there. It seems like there is a bit of a bounce.”Property listingsFrom our partners