A GAME of "cat and mouse" bidding led to an epic battle at the auction of a house in Edgeworth on Saturday.
Three of the four registered buyers fought it out across 110 bids in an attempt to secure a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 30 Argyll Crescent which was listed with a guide of $530,000 to $580,000.
The median house value in Edgeworth is $666,000, according to CoreLogic.
First National Real Estate Newcastle City selling agent George Rafty said the property required a lot of work.
"It was a pretty tired house," Mr Rafty said.
"Everyone thought it was either a knockdown or a major reno."
The bidders included a first-home buyer and two investors who were looking to renovate the home and lease it.
The auction started with an opening bid of $530,000 but it was a slow climb as the bidding increments fell as low as $100.
The property eventually sold under the hammer for $595,000 which was $45,000 above the reserve.
"You don't see that [110 bids] too often but that's because of where it started [$530,000] and a lot of the bids were small," he said.
"There were buyers adding increments of $500 and $1000 and then $100 a few times so because the bids weren't in lots of $10,000, it was a bit of a cat and mouse game.
"One of the bidders went to $585,100 and then the other guy would say $585,500 and then the other guy would add $100.
"It flipped then and the other guy started doing it back to this guy so it was two strategies and at the end of the day the investor won out."
There were 37 auctions scheduled across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in the week ending November 19.
According to CoreLogic's preliminary results, the region's auctions recorded a clearance rate of 70.4 per cent, up from 66.7 per cent the previous week.
In Merewether, the auction of a four-bedroom home at 7 Takari Place listed with Steve Dorman at Dowling Property Group sold for $1.755 million.
The auction drew two registered parties who opened the bidding at $1.6 million.
"We had good interest throughout the campaign and it sold it at where we thought it would so it was a fair result," Mr Dorman said.
Other auction results included a five-bedroom house at 30 Castle Drive in Floraville listed with Luke Wilson at Harcourts Newcastle which drew three registered bidders.
The bidding began at $1.3 million and the property sold for $1.55 million.
An unrenovated weatherboard cottage at 125 Everton Street in Hamilton drew five registered bidders and sold under the hammer for $1.23 million with Belle Property.
A five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 1a Turner Street in Lambton listed with Phil Swan at Crawford Real Estate was listed for the first time in 50 years.
The auction began with an opening bid of $1.1 million and sold for $1.22 million.
There was also a strong turn out at the auction of a three-bedroom home at 43 Cardiff Road in Wallsend listed with Mathew Iuliano at Mavis Property Co.
The auction drew six registered parties who opened with a bid of $600,000 before the property was sold for $730,000.
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