SYDNEY’S skyrocketing real estate prices are a simple tale of supply and demand.

Buyers across Sydney are hungry for choice, and the city’s selling agents are starving for stock, but there is a simple snowball effect happening according to industry insiders.

“It’s a big Catch-22,” said auctioneer Leon Axford of Axford Auctions.

“There’s just not a lot of stock coming onto the market. You’ve got people out there who are looking to upgrade and buy something, but they’re not willing to sell their homes until they’ve secured something,” he said.

Mr Axford auctioned a three-bedroom house in Smithfield this morning which sold for $655,000.

“The reserve was $590,000 but the first bid came in straight away at $580,000, buyers aren’t mucking around,” he said.

“And once they’ve got their card in the air they just want to keep it up,” he said.

But the tide could be turning for investors in the local market as purchase prices increase faster than rents.

“The numbers just aren’t stacking up for them now,” said selling agent Daniel Cachia of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley.

Mr Cachia, who sells predominantly in the eastern suburbs said investors, who represent almost 50 per cent of the buyers in Sydney, are no longer getting the weekly returns that they used to.

“I’ve been getting a lot more owner occupiers lately. I think investors are starting to look elsewhere,” he said.

Pagewood

media_camera Good thinking 99: Emile Ziade, his son Victor Ziade and wife Marlene Ziade were the winning bidders at the auction of 24 Dudley St in Pagewood. Picture: John Appleyard

Where: 24 Dudley St

What: Four-bedroom house

How much: $1.57 million

Suburb median: $1.305 million

At the 9am auction in Pagewood there was a crowd of onlookers and nine registered bidders.

The family home on was hotly sought after with an initial bid coming in at $1.2 million, just shy of the $1.3 million reserve.

Selling agent Cameron Airlie of NG Farah and auctioneer David Gray of Cooley Auctions worked the crowd of bidders but the quick-fire auction was over in just 10 minutes when the hammer fell at $1.57 million.

The winning bidders, Emile and Marlene Ziade had recently sold in Maroubra and had fallen for the single-storey family home in Pagewood.

“We love it. We wanted something smaller with no steps,” he said.

The renovated home on 447sq m has a triple garage, a deck and a grassy backyard.

Smithfield

media_camera Sold: 18 Hinkler St, Smithfield fetched $655,000 under the hammer with Starr Partners Pemulwuy.

Where: 18 Hinkler St

What: Three-bedroom house

How much: $655,000

Suburb median: $405,000

Auctioneer Leon Axford described the two-storey house in Hinkler St as a “DIY special” but that did not stop four bidders all trying to land the last offer.

Bidding began at $580,000, just under the reserve of $590,000 and continued on until the hammer fell at $655,000 — well above the local suburb median of $405,000.

The three-bedroom property on a corner block features a study, separate living and dining rooms and an outdoor barbecue area.

An investor snapped up the 550sq m property which, according to selling agent Matthew Carpenter of Starr Partners Pemulwuy has an earning potential of between $480 and $520 a week.

Randwick

media_camera Sold: This Randwick apartment sold for $900,000.

Where: 3/102 Alison Rd

What: Two-bedroom apartment

How much: $900,000

Suburb median: $730,500

Competition was fierce for the two-bedroom unit in Randwick at 102 Alison Rd.

Although there was no parking and the outdoor terrace is actually a common area, eight bidders at auction time.

Selling agent Daniel Cachia said the art deco unit was hot property among owner occupiers wanting to get a foothold in the eastern suburbs market place.

He said the “walk-to-everywhere” lifestyle, and the fact that the home had the “feeling of a semi-detached house” were major drawcards.

The garden apartment, which is on the ground floor of a boutique block of 12, was eventually snapped up by an owner occupier.

It has a period bathroom, an open plan gas kitchen and polished timber floors.

Newtown

media_camera Sold: 174 Denison St, Newtown fetched $2.05 million.

Where: 174 Denison St

What: Four-bedroom house

How much: $2.05 million

Suburb median: $1.005 million

Auctioneer Charlie Powell from Under The Hammer rejected an initial offer of $1.5 million on the Newtown house, in favour of $1.8 million. From there, steady bids pushed the price up to $2 million at which point competition came down to just two parties.

The hammer fell at $2.05 million.

Buyers Anthony and Danielle Patterson were overwhelmed by the result.

“I’m shell-shocked,” Mr Patterson said.

“I’m excited,” Mrs Patterson said. “We sold our house last week and we’ve been looking for a couple of months around this area. There’s nothing as big as this on the market.”

Mrs Patterson said during the bidding process, it was like time had stopped still.

The mother of three was on the phone with her dad and despite the line dropping out towards the end, it was not a deterrent.

“It gave us a bit more time actually,” she said.

The couple are now looking forward to moving into the home with their children Freya, 9, Ciara, 4, and Kye, 7.

“I imagined us living here. It ticks all our boxes,” Mrs Patterson said.

Selling agent Charles Bailey from Urbane Estate Agents Newtown said interest from “day one” was between $1.8 million and $1.9 million

“The result was good,” Mr Bailey said.

Leichhardt

media_camera New owner Tom Bennetts was the winning bidder at Ivory Lane in Leichhardt.

Where: 5/1 Ivory Lane

What: Two-bedroom apartment

How much: $1.025 million

Suburb median: $712,500

Only five parties were expected to register to bid on this ground-floor apartment but on auction day it attracted double that amount.

Auctioneer David Gray from Cooleys Auctions launched the proceedings at a vendor bid of $820,000 and after five minutes, the house was sold for $1.025 million, $125,000 above reserve.

Agent Santos Sulfaro from Richardson & Wrench Leichhardt said the sale exceeded the last sale he did at number 13 by $135,000 last August.

“They’re identical but this one was not renovated,” he said.

The key attraction was its house-like size and 120sq m backyard, which was rare for an apartment in Leichhardt.

“If this was a house in the area you’d be paying $1.3 million,” Mr Sulfaro said.

Vendor Steven Booker, who has been using the home as an investment property, said it reinforced how good the market was for sellers.

“I felt confident because it was a unique property and there’s not a lot like this,” he said.

Carlingford

media_camera 33 Tobruk Avenue Carlingford sold at auction for $1.32 million at auction.

Where: 33 Tobruk Abe, Carlingford

What: Three-bedroom house

How much: $1.32 million

Suburb median: $1.040 million

A $1 million bid opened the auction action for this family-friendly Carlingford home, just shy of the quoted price guide which was “more than $1.025 million”.

Steady bids from seven of 14 registered bidders pushed the price up in 25,000 increments until $1.2 million.

The rapid 15-minute auction ended when the hammer fell at $1.32 million.

The property was snapped up by a couple upsize.

“A key attraction was that it was on the border of Epping and was round the corner from the M2,” said Russell Sheffield of NNW Property Epping.

Lane Cove

media_camera Sold: 18 Farran St Lane Cove is a humble home with an impressive price.

Where: 18 Farran St

What: Three-bedroom house

How much: $2.105 million

Suburb median: $1.56 million

Continuing to prove that homes don’t need to be renovated to sell well, an original brick home in Lane Cove sold for $2.105 million.

Five parties competed for the home with bidding starting at $1.2 million and hitting the $2 million reserve before the hammer fell.

Brent Courtney, of McGrath Lane Cove, said the buyers planned to rent it out before moving in and renovate it.

“Most people were looking at adding value to it,” Mr Courtney said.

He added that a buyer had tried to buy the property prior to auction with an offer of $1.87 million but the owners wanted to go to auction.