August 3, 2026 — 11:47amA grand family residence in Eastwood that fetched $4.7 million in October last year sold at auction on Saturday for a $345,000 loss as Sydney’s clearance rate fell.The six-bedroom property with gated entrance, brick fireplace and triple lockup garage at 27 Epping Avenue traded for $4,355,000 at the weekend.The property was one of 510 scheduled auctions in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group had recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 48 per cent from 289 reported results, while 105 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.Sydney’s preliminary result is a fall of 5 percentage points from the previous week, and it is likely to be revised lower as more results are collected.Three buyers registered and two placed bids for the stately Eastwood home with a $4.25 million guide, itself below last year’s sale price.Bidding opened at $3.8 million and rose in $100,000 increments until $4.3 million, then the highest bidder bid against himself and added an extra $55,000 to his final offer.The vendors adjusted their $4.5 million reserve to sell, and the hammer fell at $4,355,000.There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.Selling agent Andy Lin of Uniland Real Estate, Epping & Castle Hill, said: “The market is still tough. So they are accepting the market.”His vendors are not optimistic about what is happening in the coming year, Lin said. “Happy result for vendors, but the market is still coming down because the interest rate is too high.”Another of his property’s up for auction, at 4 Second Avenue in Epping, passed in.“A lot of auctions [have] got zero buyers at the moment, so auctions that vendors still make a loss … but if they think that they can minimise the loss, they’re still happy,” Lin said.In Merrylands West, a luxurious property with five bedrooms and six-metre-high ceilings drew zero registrations at auction.The ultra-modern home had curved walls and was on a corner block at 7 Daryl Street.Selling agent Christopher Carey of Citywide Property Agents said four groups had inspected the house, guided with a range of $2.8 million to $2.85 million. Two parties did not register at auction but showed interest.“I think it’s just a wait-and-see kind of thing,” Carey said. “I think a lot of people are doing that at the moment. It’s more of a wait-and-see game. I think they will probably prefer to make a private bid.”Auctioneer Tom Panos said: “I do 10 to 15 auctions every Saturday … people are withdrawing and cancelling all their auctions. And this one did go ahead, but as there was no one registered, this auction was cancelled as well.”“It is very, very clear we are now in a marketplace that has total loss of confidence,” he said. “Buyers are concerned that even though property prices have dropped, that they’re worried that they’re going to further drop, so they’re not buying.“Vendors don’t want to come to the marketplace because they’re seeing what’s happening with the results.“Unfortunately, we’re in a gridlock market, and I don’t think that this was the consequence that the government wanted when they set the budget.”In Sydney’s east, a two-bedroom single-level garden apartment at Bondi Beach with no parking sold for $2.3 million.The unit at 2/55 Sir Thomas Mitchell Road had a guide of $2 million.Six parties registered to bid, and three of them took part. All were local owner-occupiers. None were investors or first home buyers.Bidding opened at $2 million, jumped to $2.1 million and then rose in $10,000 and $25,000 increments to hit the $2.2 million reserve, before eventually selling for $2.3 million.Ray White’s Angus Gorrie said buyers were drawn to the “Bondi address”.“It had a nice courtyard as well, so just giving you that outdoor space. Only four in the block … which people always like.”The vendor is upsizing in the area while the buyer was renting nearby. The address last traded for $1.56 million in 2019, records show.AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Domain’s clearance rate of 48 per cent for Sydney has “weakened again”.“The combination of the interest rate hikes, the risk that we might still see more hikes ahead, the tax changes which have sent many investors to the sidelines, along with poor levels of confidence, not helped by the ongoing war with Iran and the rebound in fuel prices. All of those things are keeping buyers very cautious,” he said.Oliver suspects that the clearance rate will remain weak until the year’s end.“At the moment, you’ve got sort of a mismatch between what buyers are prepared to pay and what vendors want,” he said.“Vendors’ expectations are inflated and based on the property on the boom-time conditions that prevailed last year. Those boom-time conditions are long gone.”More:AuctionsNSW residential propertySydney house pricesProperty pricesSalesProperty upsizingEastwoodProperty listingsFrom our partners