A young couple paid $2.2 million for a four-bedroom, New York-style loft in Collingwood in post-auction negotiations on Saturday.
The property, which had price expectations of $2.15 million, attracted their single $1000 bid under the hammer and passed in for $2,001,000, after which the young couple negotiated the sale.
Selling agents confirmed 23/120 Cambridge Street had sold, but would not comment on the price, saying it was undisclosed.
Bidding on the property, which included a rare rooftop terrace and soaring ceilings, started on a vendor bid of $2 million. Jellis Craig auctioneer Simon Lord then called for a rise of $50,000, but no bids came.
The auction was paused after five minutes of silence from the crowd, allowing agents to speak to the vendors, who had owned the property for 23 years.
When Lord returned to resume the auction, he asked for a $25,000 rise. But there were no bites until the young couple made the single $1000 bid.
A crowd of a dozen people watched, along with Mr Pepper, a beagle accompanying his owner.
Mr Pepper watches on as the auction at 23/120 Cambridge Street gets underway.Credit: Jason South
Though he would not comment on the price, Jellis Craig Fitzroy’s David Sanguinedo said the inner-city market was showing signs of renewed confidence.
“In our marketplace it’s very much relative to the stock because people don’t have anything to buy - that’s keeping our prices buoyant,” Sanguinedo said.
Buyers looked through the property, but mostly remained silent during the auction.Credit: Jason South
The Collingwood auction was one of 955 scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 63.8 per cent from 708 reported results, while 73 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
On the other side of the city, in Hampton, a four-bedroom house at 95 Willis Street sold under the hammer for $1.83 million.
The home, which needed work, had been owned by the same family since 1949, and sold above the $1.7 million to $1.8 million guide.
Belle Property Sandringham’s Jenny Dwyer said three bidders raised their hands, and two women won.
They plan to renovate the property and possibly lease it out, she said.
“They loved the history of the home because it had been in the family for so long,” Dwyer said.
Bidding opened on a vendor bid of $1.7 million, and cautious offers followed from the interested parties that included young families, Dwyer said.
“Bidders were more considered, so there was not that flurry [of bids] that we had at other auctions,” she said.
The family was emotional, giving up the property after more than 70 years.
“But they were really happy someone had bought it and was going to love it and look after it as well,” Dwyer said.
A double-fronted Victorian home in Armadale sold under the hammer for $5.1 million to a downsizer at auction on Saturday, who beat a young family for the keys.
The auction for the four-bedroom home at 10 Auburn Grove was hotly contested, opening at $4 million, and parties made $50,000 bids.
The home had price expectations of $4.5 million to $4.9 million, and was called on the market at $5 million. Once bidding reached $5.05 million, the buyer made a final $50,000 offer to secure the property.
Jellis Craig Stonnington auctioneer Andrew McCann said bidding was spirited between multiple parties, as a crowd of about 150 people watched.
There were six or seven families in the crowd who had expressed interest in the property, but only two parties had a chance to make a bid as the offers flew.
McCann said a tighter spring market meant properties were selling with greater competition.
“Buyers have accepted that there’s not a lot of choice in the market at the moment, so they are well engaged at auctions,” he said.
McCann said listing numbers were down on what was expected for the rest of the year, as homeowners held onto their properties.
In Northcote, a four-bedroom period home with an architecturally designed extension, sold for $2.95 million to a young family who did not make a bid during the formal auction.
They were one of two expected bidders for the home, but neither raised their hand to make an offer when the auctioneer called for bids.
Instead, the property at 61 Victoria Road passed in and sold in an “auction after the auction” when the two bidders negotiated a sale.
The home sold above its $2.7 million to $2.9 million guide, despite not getting a bid during the auction.
Nelson Alexander Northcote’s Tom Alexiadis said bidding at the formal auction opened on a vendor bid of $2.7 million, at the bottom of the guide, but no offers followed.
“The two buyers decided not to bid, even though the highest bid gets the vendor’s reserve and exclusive rights to negotiate,” Alexiadis said.
Though more homes have been listed for sale this spring, Alexiadis said there had not been a huge number of properties coming up for sale. The local market was still tight.
“We’re not getting the stock everyone thought we would,” he said. “At the moment that’s not the case.”
Not too far away in Thornbury, a two-bedroom home at 79 Raleigh Street sold under the hammer for $1.48 million, above the $1.3 million reserve.
Five bidders, all professional couples looking to get into the area, fought it out for the keys, and the winning couple made a last $1000 bid.
Bidding opened on a buyer bid of $1.2 million, followed by $20,000 offers. Bidding then dropped to increments of $10,000 and then $1000, Nelson Alexander Northcote’s Luke Sacco said.
The property, which had a modern extension, had sold well thanks to lots of interest from buyers.
“Renovated stock is really selling well,” Sacco said.