Latham home sells for $862,000 at auction and breaks suburb record

A five-bedroom home in Latham has set a new suburb record after it sold under the hammer on Wednesday night for $862,000, beating the previous record by $7000.

The property at 3 Kinchela Crescent attracted a dozen neighbours to the auction and four registered bidders.

Bidding for the home started strong at $780,000, which “knocked two bidders out of the competition”, selling agent Kostya Logvinov of Harcourts Belconnen said.

“It was quite sporadic at the start and the bidders needed a bit of encouragement to keep the flow going but when it was announced on the market at $840,000, the price then rose quickly until it reached $862,000,” he said.

“This is a five-bedroom house and suited the larger family who eventually purchased it.”

Latham’s previous suburb record was set less than a month ago in February by the property at 36 Hensman Street, which sold for $855,000.

The latest sale comes after three properties broke suburb records at auction on Saturday in Oxley, Franklin and Giralang.

“There’s tremendous confidence in the market at the moment and a lot of people have a strong belief that these prices will continue to go up, so they’re trying to get into the market now,” Mr Logvinov said.

“People who were very strict on their checklist items three to six months ago are now buying what they can get … people can’t afford to be picky right now.”

The entry-level market will see a new median, considering the way prices are increasing, Mr Logvinov added.

The Domain First-Home Buyers Report showed an entry-level house in Canberra was priced at $606,060.

“It’s tough for some first-home buyers because it seems the market is slipping away from them with how prices are moving,” he said.

“But there are a number of first-home buyers who have become a lot more savvy nowadays and we’re seeing a huge amount of activity from all demographics and think that will continue.”