By Caroline Zielinski
Investors went head-to-head at an auction in Melbourne’s inner west on Saturday, with two couples bidding for a 1890s period house, pushing the sale price well above expectations.
The three-bedroom heritage weatherboard at 22 Pilgrim Street, Seddon, which features original floorboards, stained-glass windows and a backyard, was listed with a price guide of $980,000 to $1.050 million.
It sold under the hammer for $1.221 million following an intense bidding war between four parties – a local investor, an interstate investor and two couples.
The property was one of 1184 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 70.8 per cent from 876 reported results throughout the week, while 63 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Within seconds of Jas Stephens Real Estate agent and auctioneer Jon Galea opening on a $980,000 vendor bid, the interstate investor placed a bid of $1 million over the phone for the property.
Two couples battled two investors in a tight bidding war for the 22 Pilgrim Street property. Credit: LOUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI
This unleashed a bidding war between the interstate investor and one of the couples, until it reached $1.105m, at which point the second local investor entered, and the couple exited.
The investors battled it out until the $1.162 million mark, after which the second couple put in their first bid. After more than 40 bids, the second couple won the auction.
Galea said the auction went “well above expectations,” largely due to investors driving the price up. He would not disclose the reserve, but he said the sale price was “some $200,000 above” it.
“Never in our wildest dreams we would have thought $1.221 million – we haven’t seen investors spur along the market for some time here in Melbourne,” he said.
The vendor was selling the investment property in addition to a hobby farm to free up equity for a bigger family home, Galea said.
The three-bedroom Seddon house sold well abode expecations.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Across town in St Kilda East, a renovated, three-bedroom Victorian at 11 King Street passed in at auction. Bidding stopped at $1.69 million, but was sold in post-auction negotiations at $1.72 million.
It was listed with a price guide of $1,600,000 to $1,700,000.
Buxton Port Phillip agent David Seeber said the buyer, a professional athlete in her late 20s, was “looking for something fully renovated for herself”. There was one underbidder, a young couple relocating from interstate.
Seeber would not disclose the reserve, but said the sale price was just shy of it.
This week’s interest rate cut has “spurred a lot more inquiries from people who are starting the process of researching,” he said.
In nearby South Yarra, a professional woman in her 30s forked out $1.875 million for a single-storey Georgian home after it passed in at auction.
The home at 27 Phoenix Street features three bedrooms, ornate fireplaces, a luxurious bathroom and a small backyard. Woodards South Yarra agent Cate Vesely listed the deceased estate for sale with a quoted price range of $1.7 million to $1.9 million. The reserve price was $1.85 million.
The auction began with a vendor bid of $1.7 million, followed by a single bid of $1.725 million before passing in.
Vesely said the buyer was the only registered bidder, and that she had fallen in love with the home “the moment she saw it”.
“She’s a young professional who just moved over from New Zealand and was looking to buy a place and live in it. She just fell in love with this one and has been with us from the start of the four-week campaign.”
The underbidders were an older couple looking to upsize from their current large apartment, also in South Yarra, to a home in the area.
The home features three bedrooms, ornate fireplaces, a luxurious bathroom and a small backyard.Credit: Domain
In Footscray, four bidders fought over a rundown three-bedroom home at 39 Stafford Street that had stood vacant for years.
Ray White Sunshine agent and auctioneer Marcus Fregonese listed the house for sale with a quoted price range of $600,000 to $660,000. The reserve price was $660,000.
Fregonese said the winning bid, at $720,000, was offered by “a young, local guy in the building game” who was looking to renovate it for his first home. The underbidders were young couples looking to knock it down.
The home’s owners, an elderly couple who had once lived in the house but long since moved to the east of Melbourne, did not have “the energy to renovate it”, Fregonese said.
After a starting bid of $600,000, the four traded bids of $10,000 increments until $680,000, after which they slowed to $5,000.
“It’s unlivable and dilapidated, and actually had squatters in there. The guy who bought it is planning a full renovation,” Fregonese said.
The run-down house at 39 Stafford Street in Footscray.Credit: Domain
He said there was renewed confidence in the market following this week’s rate cut.