Two old weatherboard and brick houses on Kembla Street have turned to dust after collectively being sold for $3,235,000 at auction.

A Sydney developer snapped up 48a and 59 last week with the plan of building a 19 apartment complex on the 1,182 square metre block.

“It already had consent to develop which was a pretty appealing feature for the property and that certainly further encouraged interest,” MMJ Wollongong director Daniel Hastings said.

More than 50 enquiries about the site, the majority from local developers, while “numerous” bidders registered for auction night with 108 bids made in total.

“Both local and non-local buyers are recognising the lifestyle benefits of our region and the opportunity for viable redevelopment opportunities,” Mr Hastings said.

He the sale is testament to the Illawarra’s residential development market showing now signs of slowing down in the months leading up to Christmas.

“There still seems to be a hunger for development opportunities predominantly with local interest with a sprinkling from outside the region,” Mr Hastings said.

Wollongong has been experiencing a housing boom with HIA statistics from earlier in the year showing units were going up faster than stand-alone houses.

In October, plans were approved for a new nine-storey apartment tower on the highest point in Wollongong’s CBD, Crown Lane.

The prime site of 35 units and 1600 square metres of commercial space is quite conservative to other developments on the cards.

Also in October, a 16-storey residential-commercial project including 250 apartments, was lodged with Wollongong City Council.

The $83.5 million, two-tower complex, would sit atop a huge Kenny and Atchison Street site.

Acting “as a catalyst for revitalisation within the area”, the plans said.

While close by, Sri Lankan developers lodged plans to build a $22 million apartment block on a derelict house on Atchison Street which has been plagued by squatters and fires.

On Auburn Street, next to the railway, an 18-level apartment tower is underway, while two other Atchison Street high-rise blocks have recently been built.