NewsBite

Advertisement

Family outlays $2.7m at auction to get into coveted high school zone

By Sarah Webb

A local family outmuscled a builder to secure a dated four-bedroom cottage in Balwyn North and ensure a place in the suburb’s coveted high school catchment at auction on Saturday.

The winners of 149 Maud Street paid $2,702,000, almost $200,000 over the reserve.

The home, set on a 724-square-metre block, had a price guide of $2.3 million to $2.5 million and a reserve of $2,525,000. Five bidders, a mix of builders and owner occupiers, vied for the keys in an hour-long auction held indoors to escape the rain.

“We started at $2.1 million and I put in a vendor bid to get it to $2.3 million,” said selling agent Brad Cooper of Ray White.

“From there, it went up mainly in $10,000 or $20,000 increments before slowing to $1,000 bids near the end. It was a bit like extracting teeth at times.”

Loading

The winning family, whose daughter will attend Balwyn High School, managed to fend off the underbidder - a builder who had plans to replace the cottage with a French provincial home.

The vendors, who had lived in the home for 21 years, were looking to downsize.

It was one of 1244 auctions scheduled in Melbourne for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.4 per cent from 1110 reported results across the week, while 148 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

Advertisement

Elsewhere, a Melbourne couple fast-tracked their plans to upsize by a few years on Saturday, splashing a reserve-smashing $1,915,000 on a family home at a “thunderous” Murrumbeena auction.

In front of a massive crowd keen to catch one of the of year’s final auction spectacles, the couple went head-to-head with three other families, claiming the keys in just 20 minutes for a sum that left the vendors stunned.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom home, at 7B Erindale Street, Murrumbeena, had a price guide of $1.55 million to $1.7 million and a reserve set at $1.7 million.

The auction kicked off at $1.6 million with the four bidders battling it out in rapid $10,000 increments until it reached the $1.75 million mark. From there, bids narrowed to smaller $1,000 and $2,000 raises for the final stretch.

“It was absolutely thunderous,” said selling agent Ari Levin, of Slater and Levin.

Loading

“The crowd was massive and there was barely any hesitation between bids. We are sitting two weeks away from the end of the year wrapping up and the buyer took advantage of getting into that part of the market.

“They hadn’t been looking for long and they knew they needed to upsize in the next few years so when they saw this home, they brought their plans forward.

“It was just what they were looking for. It backed onto Murrumbeena Park which was a unique feature and a nice spot to walk the dogs and play with the kids.”

For the owners, who have lived there since 2009, the decision to leave the sale to the tail end of the selling season ultimately paid off.

“When the hammer went down there was a bit of shock [and] disbelief,” said Levin.

In Eaglemont a charming four-bedroom family home on a lush 873-square-metre block at 31 The Righi sold for $3 million under the hammer.

The home, in one of the region’s most sought-after streets, had a price guide of $2.7 million to $2.8 million and a reserve of $2.8 million.

A young family kicked it off at $2.7 million but was forced to quickly drop out, unable to stretch beyond its limit. From there, it was down to a real estate agent - bidding for himself - and a buyer’s advocate representing a client. The real estate agent won.

Loading

Selling agent James Labiris of Nelson Alexander said bids climbed rapidly in $20,000 increments until clearing the reserve. After that, it narrowed to $10,000 and then $1,000 rises.

“It was a straight-up professional bidding war. It was confident and decisive moves. There were no phone calls or slow back-and-forth bidding,” he said.

Labiris said the landholding itself and the blue-chip location made the home a rare find. He said the vendors had owned the home for 30 years.

The city’s clearance rate is a few points up on last year’s, reflecting a more confident market, said Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee.

“Bidder numbers have improved and we’re seeing stronger activity than this time last year,” she said.

“It was a challenging start to spring, but the market has found its footing, with buyers recognising fair value.”

Conisbee pointed to a tighter pool of listings and renewed interest from interstate investors.

But following reports rate cuts could arrive later than anticipated, she expects a sluggish start to 2025.

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/property/news/family-outlays-2-7m-at-auction-to-get-into-coveted-high-school-zone-20241130-p5kutf.html