While some Illawarra sellers are still opting to take their properties to auction, others are achieving strong results by accepting offers prior to going under the hammer.
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The home at 6 Garaban Court, Bulli sold for $4,405,000 earlier this week, within three weeks of being listed and prior to auction.
Meanwhile, Sam Vescio from MMJ is the selling agent for 32 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Austinmer.
Set on 1600 square metres of land, the five-bedroom, two-bathroom home sold earlier this week.
It was scheduled to go to online auction this weekend, but sold prior to, with a local buyer snapping it up for an undisclosed price.
Of the reasons that some properties were transacting prior to going under the hammer, Mr Vescio said there were perhaps some sellers who were a little hesitant to take their homes to online auction.
"But I think it's more so the buyers being a bit aggressive, and wanting to try to wrap something up (prior to auction)," he said.
"Every situation is different, and depending on how a campaign goes is how we decide whether to sell prior, or whether we need to go to auction.
"It depends on what's going on, what interest we're getting, and where the buyers' heads are at."
McGrath Thirroul's Vanessa Denison-Pender had two properties scheduled to go under the virtual hammer this weekend - 34a Pass Avenue, Thirroul, and 674 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coledale.
However, the Thirroul home will now be sold via private treaty.
Ms Denison-Pender said she felt it was "still very much an auction market", and many buyers had embraced the online bidding format as it was less intimidating and pressure-driven.
"But I feel like the market has been delayed a bit because of COVID, and I think there will be more competition when things open up a bit more," she said.
"We'll be having a very busy summer selling season instead of the spring selling season.
"I think auctions will continue to be the vendors' first preference... I can see that there's a lot of demand, but not enough stock at the moment.
"I think the summer season is going to be very busy for everybody, and because of that I think there will be competition for auctions."
Offering beachfront views, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at Coledale will be auctioned on Saturday.
It has a price guide of $2.9 million.
Ms Denison-Pender said the property was attracting plenty of interest from Sydney buyers.
Under the virtual hammer
There are other properties throughout the region that are up for auction this weekend.
This includes an acreage property, located at 478 Darkes Forest Road, Darkes Forest.
It's due to be auctioned on Saturday and has a price guide of $4 million.
The lifestyle property is set on 20.1 acres with approximately 13 acres cleared and fully fenced.
Walking trails travel through the property to the O'Hares Catchment and Dharawal National Park with its bushland and swimming holes.
Other features include 13 fully fenced paddocks with stables or shelters and automatic watering system; aviary and four dog kennels with large dog run; two dams; and two large sheds.
The homestead comprises of a ranch-style home, with four bedrooms.
Selling agent, Ron Kissell from Ray White Helensburgh said the property was attracting interest from various parts of Sydney, the Illawarra and the South Coast.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with escarpment views at 9/18 New Dapto Road, Wollongong will also go to online auction on Saturday.
Selling agent, Jeremy Hodder from Stone Real Estate Illawarra said the price guide was $940,000.
Mr Hodder said the home was drawing interest from Sydney buyers, as well as some local interest, and mostly downsizers.