By Jim Malo
A Carlton North house sold for $1,815,000 on Saturday, in a competitive auction before a large crowd.
The three-bedroom home at 70 Fenwick Street was a single-fronted Victorian terrace, which had been updated several times since its vendors bought it about 50 years ago. It featured a large, curved, glass-brick wall at the rear and an added upper level.
Nelson Alexander agent Charlie Barham listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $1.55 million to $1.65 million. Bidding began at the bottom of the range and quickly passed the reserve, which was set at the top.
Four bidders contested the auction. They traded more than 40 bids, most of which were $10,000. The final price was $165,000 more than the reserve.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer Tom Roberts said the buyers were a middle-aged owner-occupier couple.
“[The block] is 1¾ wide. It just made it more flexible, gives it more space, more light,” he said. “People have enjoyed that and obviously the fact they can move into it, drop their bags and just enjoy it.”
Tom Roberts auctions 70 Fenwick Street, while wearing a purple Foundation Day shirt. Credit: Simon Schluter
Barham said the underbidders included young professionals, families and downsizers. “Despite mixed commentary on the market, this result proves that there is still a strong appetite for quality family homes that are well located.”
The sale was a part of Nelson Alexander’s Foundation Day, and the agents’ commission was donated to charity Reach.
It was one of 1066 auctions scheduled for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 60.2 per cent from 729 reported results, while 80 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Thornbury, an extensively renovated house passed in at auction on a vendor bid of $3.05 million.
Jellis Craig agent John Karr listed the four-bedroom house at 63 Speight Street with a quoted price range of $3 million to $3.3 million.
“The property is a magnificent home, it’s a double-fronted, late-Edwardian that has been almost rebuilt,” he said. “It’s been done beautifully. The back room has five-metre high ceilings, it has a pool, a north-facing rear.”
Karr said he’d fielded interest from several buyers during the campaign, though none had bid on Saturday. He planned to convert the listing to an expression-of-interest campaign and keep the same price range.
“It’s worth that, but it’s more the state of the market. If I was standing there even a year ago, I would have had a sea of hands,” he said. “The talk about the cost of living, it’s actually real. People are struggling.”
In St Kilda East, ARIA-award winning singer Julia Stone offloaded her investment property after auction for $925,000 to another investor who had plans to live in the unit.
Stone is one half of the eponymous indie duo, Angus & Julia Stone, with her brother; the pair won a slew of ARIA awards in 2010 for their album, Down The Way, and its third single, Big Jet Plane.
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at 2/85 Westbury Street had been renovated by the singer, and had been rented out since 2022. It was in a small art deco building and featured a modern style.
Marshall White agent Matthew Grima listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $880,000 to $940,000. He said the auction began with a vendor bid of $890,000, which was followed by a single bid of $900,000.
The unit had been a rental since 2022. Credit: Marshall White
It was passed in to the sole bidder, who increased their offer by $25,000 to secure the home. Grima would not disclose the reserve.
“Buyers loved the private courtyard, the renovations that Julia had undertaken and the period nature of it,” he said. “Private courtyards of that size don’t fall off trees. It’s a good result, but it’s not a showstopper either.”
The buyer would use the unit as an investment in the short term, but planned to move in, Grima said.
In Frankston North, a well-renovated house sold for $54,000 more than its reserve price after a hot auction.
The three-bedroom house at 21 Honeysuckle Street featured double-glazed windows, central heating, refrigerated cooling and a large garage with a pit in the floor, which could be used for maintaining vehicles.
O’Brien agent Mark Bourke listed the property for sale with a quoted price range of $585,000 to $638,000. He said bidding began at $590,000, and four buyers traded about 40 bids.
“I think we had about eight registered bidders but when they saw it was going good they all disappeared,” he said.
The reserve price was $620,000 and the house sold to an owner-occupier for $674,000.
Bourke said one bidder was an investor. “We’re seeing investors coming into Victoria from Sydney and Brissy in the last two to three weeks,” he said.
“Even though the land tax is a nasty thing, there’s a little bit more [investors]. It’s about 20 per cent of our buyers again when it was about 5 per cent.”