How a Footscray vendor topped their neighbour’s recent sale by $233,000 at auction

A Footscray house sold for $1,113,000 at auction on Saturday, hundreds of thousands more than its neighbour fetched three months ago, as its selling agent said an expanded government scheme may have contributed to the price.

The two-bedroom house at 110 Macpherson Street was an Edwardian design and had been a rental. It was listed with a price guide of $820,000 to $902,000.

$820,000 - $902,000

110 Macpherson Street, Footscray VIC 3011

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Jas Stephens selling agent and auctioneer John Galea said the house was similar to its neighbour at 112 Macpherson Street, except that Saturday’s auction lacked off-street parking. The neighbour sold for $880,000 at the start of August.

“This is an anomaly, in terms of what we’re seeing in the marketplace,” Galea said. “You can buy a three-bedroom variant in this suburb, and you can buy equal two-bedroom variants in Seddon or Yarraville for this sort of money.”

The federal government in October expanded its 5 per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers; eligibility criteria was eased, and price caps were raised. In Melbourne, eligible buyers can get help to purchase a home up to $950,000.

All but one of the four buyers who contested the auction had been first home buyers, Galea said. The auction began with a bid of $850,000 and Galea said the vendors had a floating reserve of about the middle of the range.

The winning bidders were first home buyers, but had been house hunting for more than a year.

Galea said the effect of the expanded scheme was already noticeable. “I would suggest based on this result and what we’re seeing with the open home enquiries of late, there might be a little bit of that push towards that ceiling of $950,000.”

It was one of 1345 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 68.3 per cent from 956 reported results throughout the week, while 100 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Preston, a park-front house passed its reserve price after just one bid and sold for $1.57 million.

AUCTION $1,300,000 - $1,400,000

22 Halwyn Crescent, Preston VIC 3072

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The three-bedroom house at 22 Halwyn Crescent faced onto two parks, both of which were linked to the Merri Creek trail.

Ray White selling agent Ian Dempsey listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $1.3 million to $1.4 million. He said the reserve was set at the bottom of the range.

The brick house was mostly unrenovated, Dempsey said. “It was just very well looked after and the lady’s been in it since 1958. It’s original but very well maintained,” he said.

Four bidders contested the auction which opened on a bid of $1.35 million.

“It was on the market straight away. It was just a rapid-fire, six-minute auction,” Dempsey said.

The winning buyers, and under bidders, were families or couples intending to have children, Dempsey said.

“It was a family-oriented pocket and the couple that bought it are planning a family. They’ve been searching for 12 months looking for the right place.”

In Northcote, a fan of an architecturally designed renovation paid $2,702,000 for the right to call the house “home” after fending off three other cashed-up buyers at auction.

The renovation of the three-bedroom house at 3 Dally Street attracted architecture awards, coverage in architecture-focused publications and the adoration of one committed buyer.

“The chap who bought it was a young chap on his own, who saw the property highlighted in The Local Project when it was first completed,” Nelson Alexander selling agent and auctioneer Robert Enes said. “He knew if it came up for sale, he just wanted to buy it.”

SOLD - $2,702,000

3 Dally Street, Northcote VIC 3070

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Enes listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $2.1 million to $2.3 million. He said the opening bid was the bottom of the range, and the reserve was set at the top. The sale price was $402,000 more than the reserve.

Enes said two of the other four bidders were empty-nesters, and the home’s high-quality renovation had caused the would-be buyers to become deeply invested.

“It was helter-skelter, sure-fire bidding right from the beginning, in $25,000 increments up to $2.6 million,” he said.

In Fitzroy, a two-bedroom terrace house sold to first home buyers for $1,385,000.

The home at 333 Napier Street was near popular nightlife precincts and was given a quoted price range of $1 million to $1.1 million by Jellis Craig selling agent and auctioneer Charles Atkins.

$1,000,000 - $1,100,000

333 Napier Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065

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“It’s a beautifully presented single-fronted terrace with the all-important central bathroom, and it has a terrific lifestyle location on Napier,” he said.

The auction began with a bid of $1.04 million. Atkins said the reserve was set at $1.12 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Two bidders contested the auction; they were both first home buyers, Atkins said.

“It’s entry level into Fitzroy, and the best performing segment of the market at the moment is the single-fronted Victorians from that $1 million [to] $1.5 million.”