‘Melbourne’s coming back’: Young family pays $200,000 above reserve to nab $1.45m period home
A young family paid $1,454,000 for a pretty period home in Essendon during a hard-fought auction on Saturday that rose about $200,000 above the reserve.
Three owner-occupiers competed for the four-bedroom house at 8 Spencer Street in front of a crowd of more than 30.
The property was one of 873 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 72.4 per cent from 646 reported results throughout the week, while 47 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In the first auction weekend since the third cash rate cut this year, some agents reported increasing confidence from buyers.
The freestanding, single-fronted Victorian home came with a bonus studio and was listed with a price guide of $1.15 million to $1.25 million. The reserve was at the top of the range.
When the crowd hesitated, listing agent John Matthews began with a vendor bid of $1.2 million.
The ultimate buyer offered $1.21 million, then a woman countered at $1.22 million, and the price spiralled higher in rapid-fire $10,000 bids.
A third party jumped in at $1,395,000 but could not outspend the family, who won with a bid of $1,454,000.
Records show the home last traded in 2018 for $1.18 million.
Matthews said the sellers had previously lived there, but had moved when they needed more space and rented it out. Then interest rates and land tax rose. The tenants decided to move out, prompting the owners to sell.
He thought the location close to shops and transport was a drawcard.
“The market’s really strong … With the rate drop, our firm sold probably around eight properties in the past week so we’re seeing pent-up demand. Melbourne’s coming back,” Matthews said.
“There was ‘anticipation buying’ before it, but since it’s actually gone through, buyers have just been swooping on everything.”
He said once owners thinking of selling realised the market was rising, a lot of stock might come to market, and the next challenge would be whether the buyers could absorb it all.
Essendon’s median house price is $1.56 million, on Domain data.
In Carlton North, a renovated Victorian terrace is still available after passing in at auction.
The three-bedroom home at 175 Lee Street was listed with a price guide of $2 million to $2.2 million, and passed in on a vendor bid at the bottom of the range.
Afterwards, its asking price was changed to $2.19 million in a private sale campaign.
Nelson Alexander Carlton selling agent Charlie Barham said more buyers had been out and about on Saturday ahead of spring, and as a little more stock came on the market, they would have more choice.
“Good quality homes are still selling, sometimes competitively at auction, sometimes before, sometimes after,” he said.
Carlton North’s median house price is $1.69 million.
A first home buyer couple paid $673,000 at auction for a fixer-upper in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs, after the home was listed with a published reserve of $610,000.
Three bidders, all owner-occupiers, competed for the three-bedroom home at 16 Madison Court, Bundoora.
Ray White Bundoora listing agent Andrew Mizzi said the home was a deceased estate, and the late owner’s children attended the auction. They had made the uncommon decision to advertise the reserve price.
“The vendors wanted to be completely transparent and not fluff around. They said: ‘If you get to $610,000, we’d be ecstatic’,” Mizzi said.
The successful bidders had made the opening bid of $590,000 and the price had risen quickly to the reserve, then crept up to $640,000, Mizzi said. After that, another aspiring first home buyer dropped out and the race narrowed to two bidders until the hammer fell at $673,000. The underbidders were aiming to buy their second home.
Mizzi said the home needed a significant renovation that could cost between $100,000 and $150,000.
He said the market overall had been buoyant and the impact of interest rate cuts was significant.
“We are seeing a lot of first home buyers coming into the area; we see them really give it a good shot,” he said.
“A few buyers have been gazumped because Bundoora prices are certainly soaring.”
Bundoora’s median house price is $850,000, according to Domain data. The Madison Court home last sold in 1980 for $40,000, records show.
Elsewhere, a family paid $2.6 million for a stylish four-bedroom house in Aspendale.
The luxurious residence with swimming pool at 31 Mount View Street was listed with a price guide of $2.2 million to $2.3 million.
Bidding began at $2.2 million before the auctioneer had even finished calling for an opening offer, then went up in $50,000 lots as three parties competed, Buxton Real Estate Bentleigh listing agent Claude Mery said.
The auction then narrowed to $20,000 bids, and eventually $5000 and $1000 allotments.
The reserve price was $2.45 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Mery said a fourth potential buyer had shown up but didn’t bid. The successful bidders loved the cul-de-sac location and family-friendly neighbourhood.
“It was fiercely contested,” he said. “I haven’t seen, for a while, such a shift in the market … the competition, and the fierce bidding. The confidence is coming back into the buyers.”
Records show the block last sold in 2011 for $562,000. Aspendale’s median house price is $1,253,500.
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