It was one of 377 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday - down from 800 auctions last weekend because of Queen's Birthday long weekend.

By Saturday evening Domain Group had collected 311 results and put the clearance rate at 85.1 per cent, slightly below last week's 87.4 per cent.

The two-bedroom apartment at 32/25 Marshall Street was the first north-facing unit to sell in the the tightly-held Carillon building in five years.

Sales agent Tim Mumford of Stone Real Estate revised the original price guide from $1.5 million at the start of the campaign, to $1.6 million.

"There is a 270-degree view, you can see all the way to the Central Coast and there are no common walls, which is highly unusual in an apartment in Manly.

"It is a testament to the block there was such competition today, two in particular were really going for it."

Of the nine registered bidders, five entered the fray after a false start with an offer of $1.1 million which auctioneer, Simon Cotter rejected.

He accepted a $1.5 million bid from Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards, who faded from the race in a manner uncharacteristic of the formidable sailor.

After 40 bids and a two-way, ten-thousand-dollar tussle, a Hong Kong-based buyer won the day.

Former Sydneysider Anne Leckie made the journey from China to purchase a retirement unit.

At what she confessed was her first auction, she planned to enter the bidding late, and made small, decisive bids in ten-thousand-dollar increments.

"I didn't want to go in too early and get swept up in a frenzy, so I held off and just kept creeping up once there was only one other bidder left."

In doing so, she surpassed four other bidders, after a lengthy pursuit from one, in particular.

Ms Leckie and her husband say they are planning to move back home to Sydney in about five or six years.

"It is an incredible view, my husband will be pretty excited," she said.

"Once our daughters are out of high school, it will be a nice place to come back to."

Investment banker John Martin bought the two-bedroom unit with his wife in 2007 for $1.35 million planning until recently, to retire there.

"I saw a similar apartment sell two floors down and hadn't even thought about selling the place. You have an idea of what an apartment is worth, and I saw the price on it and it was like I had been asleep for a few years."

The couple will remain in their current home in Neutral Bay, after a result Mr Martin said came as a huge, welcome surprise.

"I've been the bidder many, many times and it can be a mixed bag in Manly.

"Once it went over $1.6 million I was happy, but it sailed past that."

Unfortunately there was one sailor in the crowd who couldn't keep up.

"I thought Mark would be a serious contender. He has competed in the Sydney to Hobart's and was definitely competing today," said Mr Mumford.

"A little bit unfortunate he couldn't secure it, but we will definitely be helping him on the hunt for his next property in Manly."

Next weekend, it seems likely another expat will secure a three-bedroom, sub-penthouse apartment in the same building, according to Belle Property Hunters Hill agent Karen Vio.

"Expats with families are interested in this apartment. They are my strongest buyers and those downsizing from the north shore."

"That apartment at 43/59 Osbourne Road has attracted interest in the mid threes [above $3 million] and there is no apartment in Sydney I am aware of with such expansive views."