The long-time Towradgi home of a former Olympian and prominent businessman fetched an eye-watering $4,530,000 under the virtual hammer on Friday night.
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For sale after 50 years, the home at 6 Marine Parade, Towradgi was sold via online auction.
The transaction has smashed the previous recorded residential sale price for the suburb of $2,440,000, set by 10 Murranar Road in July.
The property attracted nine registered bidders, a mix of local and Sydney-based parties, and was purchased by a local buyer who reportedly intends to undertake a knockdown-rebuild.
Set on a 809sqm block, the dual-level beachfront family home features four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Bidding opened at $4,150,000, with 26 bids placed. It ultimately sold for $630,000 above reserve.
Selling agent, Darren Kay from Belle Property Illawarra said the auction ultimately came down to three Illawarra buyers going head-to-head.
"All three of them had visions of knocking the property down and rebuilding a home," Mr Kay said.
"To the best of my knowledge, the successful bidder will be building their dream home.
"The attraction was the size of the block; the block is dead level, directly across the road from the beach.
"However, there were a number of registered bidders who had intent to utilise the current structure with some light renovations."
The property had been owned by the McAlary family for 50 years.
Max and Zelma McAlary bought the home shortly after its completion.
Mr McAlary, now 91 and living in Figtree, was a well-known barber and real estate agent in the Illawarra, and also represented Australia at the Olympics in wrestling.
He participated in the men's flyweight division in Tokyo in 1964.
That wasn't the only property that was hotly contested at the auction night.
The home at 9 Meadow Street, Corrimal sold for $1,316,000.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is set on 796.7 square metres.
The home offered views to the ocean, city and escarpment. It was built in 1979 and is in original condition.
Bidding opened at $1 million, with 14 registered bidders placing a total of 34 bids. It eventually sold for $266,000 above reserve.
Selling agent, Belle Property Illawarra's Tonee Kisten said the property drew a mix of local, Sydney, other parts of NSW and interstate bidders.
Ms Kisten said it was a hard-fought auction, with two parties ultimately battling it out, before a Northern Rivers region party was successful.
The Queensland-based under-bidder had only inspected the property via FaceTime.
"The buyer wasn't really looking in this area," Ms Kisten said.
"But they had seen it in the paper, really needed to find a place and had only seen it once on a Sunday for a 15-minute inspection."