Sydney auctions can be attended by more than 20 people
On-site Sydney auctions can host more than 20 people provided the agent complies with a COVID-19 Safety Plan, in a turnaround by the NSW Department of Fair Trading.
Domain reported a NSW Fair Trading spokesperson advised late Friday afternoon that Saturday auctions could go ahead as usual.
“The order is currently being amended to address an anomaly relating to the number of persons allowed on a residential property,” they said.
“In the meantime, an exemption has been made to ensure that inspections and auctions on residential premises can continue.”
The Real Estate Institute president NSW Leanne Pilkington said the peak body had tried to clarify with the NSW Health Department and NSW Fair Trading all last week.
“We were trying to get an answer literally all week. We were in touch with Fair Trading every day,” she said.
The limit was raised after NSW Fair Trading inspectors discovered auction crowds larger than 20 across Sydney during August.
Ms Pilkington said while she understood the pressure and ever-changing landscape for the government during the pandemic, better communication was integral.
“It’s really frustrating for the news to be shared at 5pm on a Friday. To get the message out to people is really hard. These decisions seem to always happen late on Friday,” she said.
“I just hope that both the Health Department and Fair Trading learn from all of this in that communication with industry stakeholders is really important and timely information is important because we genuinely want to work together.”
Sydney’s preliminary auction rate was 62 per cent from 338 reported results. There were 78 withdrawn amid 437 scheduled auctions. However SQM advised there had actually been 578.
A lakeside Narrabeen home set a record after selling for $4.27 million.
The cul-de-sac 14 Malcolm Street, Narrabeen, attracted five registered bidders.
The top sale was a six-bedroom knockdown home, with a tennis court on 1400 sqm at 41 Newton Road, Strathfield.
There were the 12 registered bidders who topped out a $5,502,000 which was $652,000 above the reserve through Richards Matthew Real Estate.