Buyer and downsizer trade 60 bids for keys to $2.55m Albert Park house
An out-of-town buyer triumphed over a local downsizer to pay $2.55 million for an Albert Park house at auction on Saturday, after the pair traded more than 60 bids for the home.
The three-bedroom Victorian at 134 Richardson Street had a recent renovation which attracted two bidders. Jellis Craig auctioneer and selling agent Max Mercuri listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $2.1 million to $2.3 million.
“It has a stunning Victorian facade and was renovated five years ago,” Mercuri said. “There’s two optional main bedrooms, either downstairs or upstairs, which really resonated with some of the downsizers and that older demographic because, long term, they can live on one level if they desire.”
The auction began with a bid of $2.16 million. The reserve was set at the top of the range. The bidders employed different strategies; once the home was on the market, the underbidder rarely offered more than a $1000 rise, and the winning buyer tended to round up the price.
The sale price was $250,000 more than the reserve. Mercuri said the successful buyer was from outside Melbourne and wanted a city base.
The property was one of 1184 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 71.5 per cent from 911 reported results throughout the week, while 72 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Newport, a home built by the vendor’s father delivered a large windfall to its owners when it sold for $1,426,000.
The three-bedroom house at 6 Rupert Street still features much of the 1980s style it had when it was built, and Ray White auctioneer and selling agent Joanne Royston listed it for sale with a quoted price range of $1.25 million to $1.35 million.
The house was an investment, she said. “[The vendors] had it for more than 40 years now, so a long time. It’s good growth for them, and they’re retired now, and they can use that money for something else and enjoy the rest of their lives.”
Royston said there were six bidders at the auction. “There was one young family who was the key underbidder, and a gentleman looking on his own for his first home, then we had three to four couples with no kids, looking for their start in the area,” she said.
“The buyer was a family who sold [recently], with three children, looking for something with reasonable size, easy and low maintenance, and they can add their own touches to it and make it more modern.”
The reserve was set at $1.4 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
In Armadale, a home attracted spirited competition and cleared its reserve price with just one bid before selling for $982,500.
The two-bedroom brick villa unit at 6/531 Dandenong Road had a modern renovation, and was set back from the street in a small block of units.
Belle Property auctioneer and selling agent Lauchlan Waterfield listed the unit for sale with a quoted price range of $850,000 to $900,000.
The auction began with a bid of $888,000, for luck, from an agent bidding on behalf of a family looking to purchase the unit for their child. Waterfield said the reserve was set at the bottom of the quoted price range.
“Three bidders went pretty aggressively from the start,” he said. “Opening up at $888,000, that was probably a little higher than we had expected but driven by the other agent bidding on behalf of their clients.”
The opening bidder was bested by a woman wanting to buy a home for herself, and the third bidder was a downsizer.
In Abbotsford, a three-bedroom apartment with river views sold under the hammer for $225,000 more than its reserve price.
The unit at 6/659 Victoria Street was large and had open living spaces overlooking the view. BigginScott auctioneer and selling agent Andrew Crotty listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.35 million to $1.45 million. He said the reserve was the top of the range.
Crotty said the two bidders, both downsizers, fought hard for the unit.
“It was all over and done within about three minutes. It literally went in $20,000 rises all the way from $1.35 million to $1,675,000. Bang, bang, bang, bang,” Crotty said.
Crotty said the view and the apartment’s size contributed to the high result and sale price of $1,675,000.
“You’re in the trees if that makes sense. You watch the trees changes their leaves, you can watch the rowers there, it’s got a great feel to it,” he said.
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