An upsizing family paid $3.5 million for a stylish house in Sydney’s inner west post-auction that would have been likely to sell for $3.8 million earlier this year.

The five-bedroom house at 2 Raynor Avenue, Abbotsford had been owned by the vendors for more than four decades and came with a sleek kitchen and a parents’ retreat with private lounge and balcony.

The property was one of 561 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 54 per cent from 325 reported results throughout the week, while 106 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The preliminary result is four points higher than last week after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold on Tuesday, but it remains a buyer’s market. A result below 60 per cent indicates prices are likely to be falling.

The Abbotsford home had a price guide of $3.45 million and attracted two registered bidders at its Saturday auction.

A vendor bid was placed at $3.45 million, but neither buyer was willing to raise their hand in front of the crowd, so the home passed in.

Warwick Williams selling agent Conor Allen said private conversations were had with both interested parties, and the most genuine party – who had shown interest since the start of the campaign and had building reports and contract changes done – had the opportunity to negotiate.

That party, a family upsizing from Petersham, bought the home in post-auction negotiations for $3.5 million, the reserve price. The vendors are downsizing.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Allen thought that the same home would have cost about $3.8 million from November last year to February this year.

He felt this market offered a good opportunity to upsize as prices have declined, but noted a shift in recent weeks, as people had realised there was a new floor under property prices.

“I have noticed the sentiment shift in the last few weeks,” he said. “There is value out there.”

Elsewhere, a young inner west family paid $4.52 million for a South Coogee family home at auction, taking the opportunity of a weak property market to move closer to the coast.

The four-bedroom house at 35 Edgecliffe Avenue, for sale for the first time in five decades, came with a mature garden, a sunroom and scope to make updates.

Six parties registered at auction and three made offers for the deceased estate.

Bidding began at $3.3 million, below the price guide and reserve of $4 million, and rose quickly in increments of $100,000 until it reached the guide.

The stride then shortened to $20,000 offers, then a bold bid of $80,000 took the price up to $4.5 million. After two more bids of $10,000 each, the hammer fell.

The sale price was $520,000 over the reserve.

“I think they just wanted a lifestyle change,” Ray White Eastern Beaches selling agent Angus Gorrie said of the winners. “Obviously with the market dropping a little bit it has probably made the gap smaller to move from where they were.”

He described the market broadly as “better than it was a couple of months ago”.

“Rates stayed on hold this week which was definitely a positive. We are seeing more and more things selling. I think buyers are becoming a bit more adjusted to the climate and more confident making offers and bidding at auction,” he said.

In Sydney’s south, a family home with striking brick and timber detail sold for $1,742,500 in a hard-fought auction.

Nine parties registered to bid for 17A Woodlands Avenue, Lugarno, a three-bedroom house with a downstairs rumpus room that could be used as a self-contained flat.

PRD Real Estate Oatley selling agent James Walters said at least five of the registered bidders participated, and interest was largely from young couples and young families, although not first home buyers.

Bidding began at $1.35 million, below the price guide and reserve of $1.6 million.

The price rose in $50,000 increments until $1.55 million, and then in a mix of $20,000 and $10,000 offers.

After $1.7 million the potential buyers were making offers as small as $2000 and even $500. The winning bidder was a woman looking for a home for her mother to live in.

The home was built in the 1950s and was sold by a son handling his mother’s deceased estate.

“It is a standout result,” Walters said, citing the home’s water view and level backyard. “The market is just quite patchy, some properties are performing quite well, but it is all about price for the majority of properties.”

He noted higher interest rates and the government’s changes to investor tax settings in this year’s budget.

In Pennant Hills, a daughter from a neighbouring suburb helped her mother buy a house to move closer to her family, a five-bedroom property at 9A Werona Street.

The home had received buyer feedback at $2 million but did not have a specific price guide. It sold for $2,365,000.

Three bidders registered and all made offers. Bidding began at $2 million and was competitive to the end.

The reserve price was $2.25 million. The vendors are downsizing.

Ray White Upper North Shore selling agent Nathan Leuzzi described the home as in a “nice quiet pocket there, a nice sunny block as well.”

“As long as sellers are willing to meet the market there is no problem with running auctions,” he said.

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