By Jim Malo
The Coburg home of comedians Rhys and Kyran Nicholson has sold to first home buyers for $842,500 after auction on Saturday.
The three-bedroom house at 82A Ross Street has a maximalist style, and featured several different colours throughout the upstairs rooms — green cabinetry in the kitchen, pink walls in the living and dining areas and blue in the upstairs bedroom.
Barry Plant Coburg listing agent and auctioneer Jarrod Couch listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $780,000 to $850,000.
The Nicholsons previously told Domain they weren’t a fan of the home’s white walls when they bought it in 2017. The couple said they eschewed advice to keep the walls blank and instead indulged their self-described maximalist tendencies.
Couch said the home still appealed to buyers. “It’s pretty unique. The buyers liked to see all the different colours and whatnot, it was a bit outside the norm, but buyers took to it,” he said.
The auction began with a vendor bid of $780,000, and passed in after two bidders, both first home buyers, brought the price to $810,000. It sold after about 10 minutes of negotiation to the highest bidder. The reserve was $850,000.
Auctioneer Jarrod Couch stands by a portrait of Rhys Nicholson before the auction. Credit: Simon Schluter
Couch said both the vendors and buyers were happy with the sale.
It was one of 998 auctions scheduled for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.4 per cent from 749 reported results, while 94 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Northcote, a new three-bedroom house sold for $1.43 million — $130,000 more than the top of the quoted price range.
The home at 4 Gracie Street attracted four bidders at auction, and featured open-plan living areas and off-street parking.
Nelson Alexander Northcote agents Monique Verga and Luke Sacco listed the home with a range of $1.2 million to $1.3 million.
Wakelin Property Advisory director and buyers’ advocate Jarrod McCabe, who was present at the auction but did not bid, said the auction had been competitive.
He said the auction began with a vendor bid of $1.2 million, and the auction had an inconsistent pace. The final sale price was still good value when compared to other homes in the area, McCabe said.
“I liked it. It’s a no-through road so it’s nice and quiet even though it’s off St Georges Road,” he said. “The amount of accommodation it provides when compared to some of its other competitors, in terms of period homes, means it’s quite attractive as a value proposition.”
In Williamstown, a couple paid $1,915,000 to buy a well-renovated house at auction, as part of a cross-town move to be closer to their children.
The four-bedroom home at 24 John Street featured a well-kept garden, large kitchen, and three bathrooms – two of them en suites.
Reside listing agent and auctioneer Terry Fitzpatrick said the high-spec renovation had drawn attention from two bidders.
“It’s got a lot of accommodation,” he said. “Four bedrooms plus study, off-street parking here at the front, north facing at the rear which is always super popular.
“It’s completely renovated, front-to-back. These vendors bought it from me in 2016 and they’ve done the complete renovation-slash-rebuild over a two-year period.”
Fitzpatrick listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $1.75 million to $1.85 million. The auction began with a vendor bid at the bottom of the range, and the price quickly rose in $10,000 increments.
Fitzpatrick said the reserve was the top of the range.
“[The buyers are] from the other side of town as well, which is interesting to note,” he said. “They’ve migrated over to the west to be closer to their adult children.”
In Bentleigh East, a townhouse sold for $1.47 million to a buyer who’d inspected it for the first time that day.
The four-bedroom home at 14B Hinkler Avenue attracted three bidders because it had been well-presented during its campaign, auctioneer and listing agent Simon Pintado said. He sold the adjoining townhouse for $1,345,000 late last year for the same vendor.
“[The adjoining townhouse] was tenanted, and it was a bit rough around the edges,” he said.
Pintado listed 14B for sale with an advertised reserve of $1.4 million. He said the vendor had put in new carpets, polished the floorboards and painted the house. Pintado said they spent about $35,000 on updating the property.
The auction began with a bid of $1.35 million and sold for $1.47 million. Pintado said the buyers, a family with kids, were looking to avoid house-hunting over the winter.
“They’ve been looking for about two months and said it was ‘exactly what we want’ and when it was on the market they just went for it,” he said.
Pintado said buyers were prioritising well-presented homes.
“I think this market at the moment is a little patchy,” he said. “Turn-key properties are selling well and anything that requires work is struggling.”
Pintado said the $35,000 spent on updating the property helped the vendor net an extra $125,000 more than the neighbouring property they sold last year.