By Alexandra Middleton
A local couple paid $1.8 million – some $200,000 above the reserve – for a four-bedroom house in Yarraville, outbidding three other parties at auction.
With four registered bidders hesitant to make the first offer for 31 Wilkins Street, Village Real Estate auctioneer Huss Saad placed a vendor bid of $1.5 million.
“Nobody ever wants to start,” Saad joked with the crowd.
The auction was one of 1003 scheduled across Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.6 per cent from 720 reported results, while 91 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
After this slow start, a family of four offered up a $25,000 bid. Another family joined in shortly after, with the two parties trading bids from opposite sides of the auction. They pushed the price well above the $1.6 million reserve before a third party entered the race.
Bidding slowed down, and the house eventually sold under the hammer for $1.8 million.
Village Real Estate auctioneer Huss Saad at the auction of 31 Wilkins Street, Yarraville. Credit: Joe Armao
Saad said all bidders were families or young professionals already living in the area, and that the number of bidders was a good turnout in the current market.
“Obviously there were some cautious people not wanting to kick the bidding off, we’re finding that at most auctions, but as soon as you get that first bid then you can get that momentum,” he said.
In Melbourne’s south-east, a three-bedroom Hughesdale townhouse sold under the hammer to a first home buyer for $1,360,500.
Seven active bidders, including one bidding from the south of France, vied for the keys to 1/13 Bletchley Road.
31 Wilkins Street, Yarraville sold for $200,000 at auction on Saturday.Credit: Joe Armao
One party placed an opening bid of $850,000, with the auction momentarily stalling before an all-out bidding war broke out.
Ray White auctioneer Jonathon Eaves said more than 100 bids were traded between the seven parties, driving the price well above the $1,045,000 reserve.
“It just sort of went off like a pinball machine,” he said.
The buyer, from the neighbouring suburb of McKinnon, spent more than she expected to beat out young couples and downsizers to secure the sought-after property.
Eaves said she had been trying to buy for some time but kept missing out at auctions.
“The highest bidder was just rapt. I think there were mixed emotions, she was happy that she found something … she’d very well surpassed her limit, but she was prepared to pay.”
Eaves said the affordable price point of properties like Bletchley Road was a major drawcard for first home buyers and young families, with more than 260 groups inspecting the townhouse.
Meanwhile, a brother and sister have nabbed a two-bedroom villa-style unit in Melbourne’s north-west suburbs for $20,000 below the property’s reserve.
The siblings won the keys to 2/13 Ross Street, Niddrie for $720,000 in post-auction negotiations after the home was passed in on Saturday. They were the only active bidders after a downsizer ultimately decided against bidding.
McDonald Upton Essendon auctioneer Paul McDonald placed a vendor bid of $680,000, then the siblings made a single bid of $690,000 before the property was passed in.
The siblings offered an extra $30,000 during negotiations to purchase the unit for $720,000.
McDonald Upton listing agent Simone Tramontana said the vendors, who are moving interstate, were happy to accept the offer despite it being below the $740,000 reserve.
The siblings purchased 2/13 Ross St, Niddrie, for $20,000 below reserve.Credit: McDonald Upton
Tramontana said the brother and sister, who live at home with their parents in nearby Essendon, were excited to move into the villa, which had been renovated by previous owners.
“They get along, they live together now, and they wanted more space,” Tramontana said.
“It’s a beautiful location. It’s close to everything, north facing, very light and bright, and it’s such a quiet little pocket.”
Tramontana said while villa-style units were traditionally popular among downsizers, they were becoming increasingly sought-after as first homes.
“They’re affordable for people that are getting out of the rental market. Now that they can pay their own mortgage, they’re thinking, ‘Well, why am I paying somebody else’s [mortgage]?’ So they’re becoming quite popular with young people,” she said.
In the bayside suburbs, a fixer-upper unit in Beaumaris sold at auction for $775,000 to a local couple keen to embark on a renovation.
A crowd of 60 people watched the auction of 1/117 Cromer Road, a deceased estate, which sold for $75,000 above its reserve.
The bidding opened with an offer of $680,000 before a competitive auction ensued, with five active bidders vying for the two-bedroom unit.
“It just went up and up and up,” said Kevin Pleysier of Hodges Real Estate Beaumaris.
Pleysier said the successful buyers, who plan to live in the unit, had already completed a renovation and wanted to flip the property.
“It’s a great little purchase for someone to do exactly what they’re planning on doing,” he said.
Pleysier said some potential buyers were deterred from bidding because the property shares outdoor spaces with four neighbouring units.