By Alexandra Middleton
A five-bedroom house in Mont Albert North sold for $2,362,000 at auction on Saturday to a Darwin family that had only seen the property the night before.
Four families vied for the keys to 32 Chessell Street in a quick but competitive auction. Bidding started at $1.95 million, at the bottom of its listed price guide of $1.95 million to $2.145 million.
Heavyside Boroondara director and auctioneer Tim Heavyside said all four parties were involved throughout the auction, placing $10,000 and then $1000 bids.
“It was a fight to the end,” he said.
The ultimate buyer placed a final bid of $1000 to purchase the spacious family home, which has multiple living zones, three bathrooms and a pool. The reserve was $2,145,000. The downsizing vendors bought it for $612,000 in 2005, records show, the price almost quadrupling in less than two decades.
Heavyside said the buyer, a family moving from Darwin to Melbourne, only came across the property on Friday evening and quickly decided to bid at auction.
32 Chessell Street sold for $2,363,000 at auction on Saturday to a Darwin family who came across the property the night before.Credit: SIMON SCHLUTER
“They saw the video [we had made to market the property] and that’s what drew them to the property. So without seeing it [in person], they sort of fell in love with it,” Heavyside said. “It was a surprise to us.”
It was one of 1183 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 59.3 per cent from 1027 reported results across the week, while 130 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Clifton Hill, an investor from Melbourne’s east outbid two young couples to purchase a three-bedroom townhouse at auction for $1,275,000.
A buyer’s advocate, who bid on behalf of the ultimate buyer, placed the opening bid of $1,025,000 for 3/94 Roseneath Street. It had a price guide of $1.05 million to $1,145,000.
A competitive sell-off ensued. When the price hit $1,185,000, Nelson Alexander listing agent Roland Paterson said he thought the property would sell to the underbidder, but the buyer’s advocate jumped back in at the last moment.
The two parties continued trading bids until a final $1000 offer was put forward. It sold under the hammer for some $135,000 above the $1.14 million reserve.
Paterson said the buyer planned to rent out the property as an investment. The vendors, who are moving back to the UK, bought it for $991,000 in 2019, records show
In Aberfeldie, a four-bedroom home passed in at auction on Saturday after just one bidder made a single offer, while two other parties failed to show up.
The sole bidder offered up a $1.6 million bid for 34 Batman Street, below the bottom end of the listed $1.68 million to $1.84 million price guide.
McDonald Upton auctioneer Milo Rasinac then placed a vendor bid of $1.65 million, at which point the property was passed in.
The interested buyer, a family from the neighbouring Moonee Valley area, offered up $1.66 million post-auction, but that was also knocked back.
The spacious home, which is located near sought-after schools in the Essendon area, had a reserve of $1.93 million.
Despite two bidders failing to show at auction, Rasinac said there are three parties interested in the property and expects it to sell in the coming weeks.
“The vendors are just sitting tight at the moment, and I don’t know whether it’ll be this week, but there are certainly three parties that we’re dealing with in the hope that we do sell in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Rasinac added that now was an ideal time for buyers to make their move, while the Melbourne housing market remains flat and there is less competition at auctions.
“Buyers should be jumping now. As soon as there’s a downwards movement in interest rates...the market will kick off again, and buyers will kick themselves for not buying in the next few months,” he said.
“Property values have levelled out. It’s the right time to get in, not when there are 10 bidders.”
In Cheltenham, a local family beat out two others to purchase a four-bedroom townhouse for $1,625,000.
Bidding for 12A Erskine Avenue kicked off with an offer of $1.1 million from one keen party, but stalled when no other bidders put forward an offer.
Ray White auctioneer Kevin Chokshi got the auction moving again by placing a vendor bid of $1.4 million, bringing the price into the guide of $1.45 million to $1.55 million.
All three parties traded $25,000 bids until the ultimate buyer, a family upsizing from neighbouring Highett, purchased the property some $75,000 above the $1.55 million reserve.
“[The auction] started slow, but then it got competitive,” Chokshi said. “There’s been a bit of a rush for buyers to secure something before Christmas.”
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