A three-bedroom apartment 300 metres from Coogee Beach sold for $2,365,000 on Saturday after the successful buyer made a final bid against themselves, securing the property from a widow who had lived there for more than 20 years.
The bidding at 27/10 Alexander Street started at $1.9 million and moved quickly as two competing buyers, a future downsizer and a newly single mother of two, drove the price up. After bids slowed at $2.33 million, the downsizer made the final $30,000 bid against themselves to secure the freshly renovated apartment in the classic blond brick walk-up building. The property had a reserve of $2.2 million.
The numbers speak for themselves: $2,365,000 is $125,000 above a comparable apartment closer to the beach on nearby Arden Street, which sold less than a week earlier for $2.24 million. But Ray White Eastern Beaches sales agent Ty Demirezen warned that the result was "an outlier". According to Demirezen, the agency had expected $2.15 million, and the competition was fierce on the day. "The rest of the market is definitely slowing down," he said. "We're seeing less off-market transactions. Buyers are getting better value letting properties go to market."
That assessment aligns with broader market signals. Sydney's auction clearance rate has slumped to 65.5%, down sharply from 79.6% in early February, marking the lowest preliminary clearance rate of 2026 so far. Auction volumes remain high; the property was one of 969 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week.
At Bilgola Beach, the challenge became more apparent. A five-bedroom, two-storey deceased estate at 13 The Serpentine was passed in with a vendor's bid of $6 million. The fully renovated property had attracted strong interest from an overseas buyer and an owner-occupier leading up to auction day, but no one in the crowd of 20 put in a bid. Amy Young of Laing + Simmons Young Property attributed the shift to international uncertainty and talk of another interest rate rise. "Buyers are sitting on their hands," she said.
Yet Young cautioned against reading too much into the softness. She said the market would adjust to the news cycle within weeks, and buyer conditions remain favourable for those ready to commit. "More than half of our marketplace don't have a mortgage, but news of the war is rocking people," she said. "We are in a period of adjustment right now, and the buying conditions are phenomenal."
The divergence is telling. Coogee, part of Sydney's tightly held eastern suburbs, continues to attract strong buyer interest. The property's location near beaches and established lifestyle amenities remains desirable despite affordability pressures across the wider city. Yet the broader market is showing fatigue, particularly in stock requiring genuine price discovery rather than relying on scarce supply and emotional attachment.
The Coogee sale reflects a market split by geography and psychology. Quality property in prime locations continues to find buyers willing to stretch their limits. Everything else faces a more cautious buyer base watching interest rates and international headlines. For vendors, the message from agents is clear: rely on competition and buyer emotion at your peril. The days of listing light and selling dear are passing.