In what reads like an article from The Onion, a Baby Boomer family who inherited a house from a deceased parent has been left “heartbroken” as the home was passed in at auction for a “too cheap” $1.7 million. From News.com.au:
Just two bidders competed for the three-bedroom home on a 757 sqm block at 17 Beresford Ave, Chatswood and agents couldn’t get them to offer even $1000 more than the vendor bid of $1.7 million.
After the gavel fell, Karen Davis, of Standen Estate Agents, said: “Last year our vendors might have got $2.4 million for this but now we’re having to ask them to consider $800,000 less than that”…
After the gavel fell, the agents managed to get the bidder up to $1.67 million, but it was still a way off the $1.75 million reserve.
“Yes we are heartbroken,” Mr Kerr said. “We expected to get something more reasonable than this. “This is garbage.”
Mrs Kerr, whose mother, Yvonne Foster, had lived in the home up until four years ago when she moved into a nursing home. She passed away about a year ago…
“What’s being offered now is just a bit too cheap,” Mr Kerr said.
Chatswood is, of course, the nation’s most popular suburb for Chinese buyers. So what Ms Kerr is really “heartbroken” about is the fact that Chinese capital flows have evaporated and Sydney’s real estate is not being sold-off to the same extent as it was before, to the detriment of young first home buyers locked-out of the market. Ms Kerr is heartbroken that she can’t earn as much windfall wealth as she would have liked.
The Tweets reacting to the article summed up the sentiment well:
“THIS IS GARBAGE” Baby Boomer ‘heartbreak’ as chinese capital inflows evaporate in Chatswood / 22 months ago the tap was turned now #sydre#auspol#auseconhttps://t.co/V4rq9RAnMn
— AusHousingCrasⒽ (@aushousingcrash) November 3, 2018
People aren’t able and/or willing to pay inflated Sydney prices for my property and I am really upset about it is the gist of this article https://t.co/J6WVPa8S95
— Cameron Kusher (@cmkusher) November 3, 2018
Words can’t describe the sum of delirium that’s exists in this property market. The market is crashing towards affordability. And nobody gets it https://t.co/s3uXKdfIMj
— Lindsay David (@linzcom) November 3, 2018
Reads like a parody, but it’s obviously not. Holy crap, these baby boomers who inherited the family home really are the most entitled people to ever be lucky enough to makes millions of dollars from nothing.
— Christopher David (@panthropocene) November 3, 2018
Heartbreak at unearned wealth not being fully realised. Oh the angst… an outrage!
— Rip Van Winkle (@VasquezMcWong) November 3, 2018
Cry us a river.
