Melbourne Auctions: East Melbourne homes buck the trend in weak spring market

For 57 years to the day a three-bedroom terrace in East Melbourne had been home to the Brosnan family.

Back in 1961,Kathleen Joan Brosnan bought the home at 140 Simpson Road with her husband, on their daughter Patricia’s first birthday.

When it came time for Mrs Brosnan to say goodbye to her home, her children insisted the Victorian be sold on the same date it was purchased almost six decades ago.

But for a time on Saturday morning, it seemed like it might not sell at all. It was a long five minutes before auctioneer Michael Armstrong could draw a single bid for the single-fronted terrace.

Wakelin Property Advisory director Jarrod McCabe said this mood was typical of many other auctions, buyers were increasingly holding back, with false starts becoming more common in a weakening auction market.

Tap here for Saturday’s auction results.

Across Melbourne last month, the clearance rate was just above 50 per cent, making it the worst September in 14 years. On Saturday the clearance rate showed a small sign of improvement, at 53.3 per cent for 586 auctions.  

“People just don’t want to be the first to put their hand up,” Mr McCabe said.

After a slow start at the East Melbourne auction, two bidders got the ball rolling after a reluctant $2 million opening bid, before a third joined the fray and the competition heated up.

All three parties bid in small increments until the home was declared on the market. A fourth bidder, a downsizer returning from Brisbane, then came in with several bold bids and secured the home for $2.27 million.

“[My wife and I] are originally Melburnians, but we’ve been living in Brisbane for 20 years and thinking of retiring here,” said the buyer, who didn’t want his name published.

The auction ran to well over 50 bids, with all four buyers reluctant to let the others get ahead.

Despite a slow start, Mr McCabe said he believed the home was always going to attract strong attention.

“It’s not as common to see a property sell for above the quote range in the current market, but it’s not surprising with a property like that,” he said. “In East Melbourne particularly, these are very hard to come by.”

The quoted price range was $2 million to $2.2 million.

“East Melbourne is quite a unique market compared to the wider Melbourne market,” daughter Kathleen Brosnan said. “There’s a limited number of properties for sale here, and the type of house it is did give us confidence we’d get the right result.”

Selling agent Kay & Burton agent Monique Depierre said having Mrs Brosnan’s children and grandchildren present made the sale all the more special.

“They’re the most beautiful family. It was quite an emotional day,” she said.

Daughter Josie Burston agreed. “It was quite significant we sell it on the same day [it was bought] 57 years later,” she said, surrounded by her siblings.

As 140 Simpson Street changed hands, Mr McCabe was around the corner purchasing an apartment for one of his investor clients.

He had a one-bedroom unit in an art deco block across the road from the MCG in his sights.

Although it sold under the hammer, Mr McCabe said he scored a bargain for his buyer. He paid $725,000 for unit 8, 98 Vale Street.  

“There was another sale in this block earlier this year with a similar floor plan which sold for $777,000. That shows the market has softened a bit,” Mr McCabe said.  

But given the fairly unfavourable market conditions, he said it was an achievement to sell at auction at all.