The Agency boss Matt Lahood fails to find single bid

Matt Lahood, the chief executive of the ASX-listed real estate network, The Agency, and his wife Connie put their Maroubra home to auction yesterday.

But the downsizing couple had no joy. It was passed in on a $3 million vendor bid from the struggling auctioneer, who had just one registered bidder amid many longtime neighbours.

The Lahoods have owned the four-bedroom 1970s family home for eight years, bought when he was a McGrath Estate Agents executive. It cost $2.26 million in 2011 after its 2010 refurbishment.

The initial auction price guide was $3.2 million, which was revised to $3 million given his listing agent Tony Laing gauged buyer interest during the marketing campaign.

Lahood has a Coogee triplex development with plans to reside on the top floor.

Lahood departed McGrath after two decades in late 2016 to establish The Agency, which traded at a record low 12c on the sharemarket last week,

Like McGrath, which also traded at record lows last week, the two estate agencies are the bellwether stock on the patchy state of the property market.

The Agency’s own Coogee office recently shut its doors as a cost-cutting measure. 

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.