They’re million-dollar homes you can’t live in – with everything from rotting ceilings and floors to interiors filled with crumbling brick – but in many parts of Sydney, these are the few homes available to buy.
Agents report ‘severe’ shortage of ready-to-move-in homes across Greater Sydney Uncertainty about rising interest rates Discourages potential sellers of prefab homes from listing them.
These shortages were particularly acute in Sydney’s well-connected inner and middle suburbs, where demand for housing has historically been highest.
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This fire-damaged home in Colleton was listed for sale this week.
Among the three detached homes for sale in the inner west suburb of Dulwich Hill is a two-bedroom detached house with a guide price of $1.3 million.
The ceiling in the Denison Road house’s kitchen is currently being supported by a metal rod to prevent it collapsing, while one of the upstairs bedrooms has a hole in the floor.
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In nearby Erskineville, a similar terrace went up for sale this week, described as “not for the faint-hearted”, with the advert warning that the dilapidated house had been “untouched for decades”.
To the west, a fire-damaged home went up for sale in Colleton this week, one of the few in the area. Most of the roof is a shell of charred wood beams.
This Annandale home sold for $1.35 million.
These listings come on the back of multiple sales of abandoned homes at exorbitant prices — often to packed crowds at auctions.
A rotting log home in Enfield, described as an uninhabitable “shack,” has been sold at auction for $2.41 million. The selling agent estimated the home would need at least $500,000 in repairs.
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The auction attracted 25 bidders, nearly eight times the current average number of bids in Sydney.
A week before this sale, a two-bedroom house on Parker Street in Kingsford sold for $2.6 million, $800,000 more than the asking price.
This Paddington home needed $1 million in renovations and has sold for $1.56 million.
In Paddington, a neglected terrace with tree branches, cracked plaster and loose bricks has sold for $1.56 million, with builders estimating the property needs at least $1 million in repairs.
The shortage of renovated homes for sale has made these repair-intensive homes an attractive option for many people, said Adrian William Joseph Lombardo, the agent selling the Dulwich Hill home.
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“We have had a lot of interest in these properties,” he said. “With Dulwich Hill, enquiries are coming from many different types of buyers.
“In the past, properties like this would only attract builders and developers, but we are getting interest from families, even though the construction costs have become very high.”
Agent Joseph Lombardo lists a dilapidated Dulwich Hill home for sale for $1.3 million. Photo by Max Mason Huebers
There’s a hole in the floor at Dulwich Hill House. It’s one of only three houses for sale in the suburb. Photo: Max Mason-Hoopers
There is a metal rod holding up the ceiling of the kitchen.
PropTrack figures showed total Sydney listings had already risen this year, up 17.7 per cent on last year, but Mr Lombardo said homes with decent backyard space were still hard to find.
Many of the auctions are in the works, said Clarence White, auction director of Mink & White. The housing that has become available in many areas is “investor stock.”.
He said these properties were mostly two-bedroom apartments – some on busier roads and in other locations that were not always attractive to those looking for a permanent home.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in investor sales,” he said. “Often these sales are not something that the typical homebuyer who is looking for something that meets all their needs would want.”
106 Edgeware Road, Enmore is for sale.
Interior of Enmore House.
“You will find that investors do not look at real estate the same way that home buyers do. For investors, it is about return, so they often buy properties that home buyers do not want to buy.”
Inner West sales agent Joseph Ferreira said some investors selling homes were hoping for an early rate cut, but decided to pull out when they realized that wouldn’t happen for some time.
Now that There is talk of a possible price hike.“Investment apartments are selling out while good quality (family) homes are tightly booked,” he added.
“A-grade” homes are becoming scarce in the current market because homeowners are reluctant to sell, said Damian Cooley, director of Cooley Real Estate Group.
22 Clara St, Erskineville was listed this week.
“It can be really hard to find homes that are ready to move in where you don’t have to do anything to them. These are usually rare in any market, but they’re especially rare now,” he said.
Even the few top-tier properties that have been offered for sale have been selling quickly and attracting many bidders. “The market for these types of homes is very competitive,” says Cooley.
Home seekers who were betting on a rebound in distressed sales giving them more housing options may be disappointed, said Lewis Christopher, director of research at SQM.
This Enfield home recently sold for $2.41 million.
76 Parker Street, Kingsford, sold for $2.6 million.
Kingsford House as seen from the inside.
“Homeowners who are struggling to make their payments are doing everything they can to avoid selling their homes. For most families, this is the last thing they want to do,” Mr Christopher said.
“We can see that in the numbers, although distressed sales are up in NSW, they are coming from a very low base. The volume is lower than it was pre-Covid.”
