Real Estate auction blog: Livestreams and rolling updates from Melbourne’s auction market
A Melbourne first-home buyer has paid a $1.325m for their first step onto the property ladder. And it’s not the only unexpected result in a week that saw an eastern suburbs record tumble.
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A first-home buyer has snapped up a $1.325m home in Melbourne’s west in a result that reinforces claims the city’s auction market was saved by market entrants this winter.
Incredibly, the buyer was one of three bidding to make the 25 Thomson St, Seddon, address as their first step on the property ladder.
But it’s not just first-home buyers making their mark this week, with a family pushing a Ferntree Gully house to a new suburban price record in a mid-week auction.
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The five-bedroom house at 12 Pleasant Rd soared to a $2.037m sale, a hefty $337,000 above the vendor’s reserve, as two bidders pursued the property listed by Barry Plant Wantirna’s Daniel Cripps on Thursday night.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said that with auction numbers across Victoria elevated throughout winter, first-home buyers had “come to the rescue” of sellers.
And, in a twist, many of the homes sold were being offloaded by investors, once the chief rival of market entrants.
FROM INVESTMENT TO FIRST HOME
Jas Stevens director Tate Moore put 25 Thomson St, Seddon, under the hammer at noon and said it had received “lots of interest from first-home buyers”.
They didn’t dissapoint, with three among the six bidders for the home in what Mr Moore described as a “throw back” to kind of frenzied bidding seen as Melbourne emerged from lockdown in 2020.
The three-bedroom California bungalow had a $1.1m-$1.2m asking price, and had been an investment property for the owner.
The first bid came in at $1m, and after a $1.1m vendor bid followed it thigns “just went crazy”.
AUCTION REPLAYS AND RESULTS
The home sold for $1.325m, a whopping $115,000 above the home’s reserve price.
Incredibly it was a first-home buyer couple that claimed the keys, beating two others looking for a start in the market as well as a second-home buyer family and a couple of downsizers.
“The vendor was very happy,” Mr Moore said.
“It was a real throw back to what we saw a few years ago.”
He attributed the success to a recent refresh and the home’s amazing location, a two-minute walk from Seddon village and a variety of local amenities.
SHEEDY CAMEO GETS A SALE AFTER THE SIREN
A Richmond home spruiked by AFL legend Kevin Sheedy has sold in post-auction negotiations.
Sheedy appeared in a video for the home and said it was so good he was considering moving back to Melbourne’s inner suburbs after moving to the city’s south east.
The 255 Coppin St, Richmond, address had a $2.75m-$2.95m asking price ahead of its auction, and OBrien Real Estate’s John Rombotis said it had passed in on a $2.75m vendor bid despite a pair of prospective buyers in the crowd.
With the reserve set in the home’s price guide, a deal was struck a short time later for an undisclosed sum.
A family with kids will be moving into the home in time for Christmas as a result, with Mr Rombotis noting all parties were happy with the result.
The home won buyers over with a location opposite to Barkly Gardens and within the Melbourne Girls College catchment.
The Victorian-era build had also been refreshed with modern kitchen and bathroom spaces as well as an outdoor fireplace in the home’s garden terrace.
PASSED IN, BUT BIDDERS STILL ACTIVE
A handful of Melbourne auctions have today showed a disconnect between the view of the market from buyers and sellers.
In Airport West, a home seller with their three-bedroom house at 14A Highlands Ave listed for $750,000-$825,000 had a buyer in the crowd.
But while the listing managed by Barry Plant’s Tony Catena got a $750,000 opening offer at the bottom of thar range, a follow up $770,000 vendor bid was only topped by a single further $1000 rise before the home passed in.
However, it’s unlikely to worry the vendor who had developed the home and its duplex neighbour as an investment and is selling one as he moves into the other.
With the auctioneer flagging that he wants a sale before Christmas, there’s still more than 120 days left for them to find a buyer.
Meanwhile, the auction of 31 Kennedy St, Bentleigh East, also stalled this morning.
Two bidders emerged for the five-bedroom house listed with a $1.7m-$1.87m asking price.
But the openning bid to Ray White auctioneer Robert Cincotta was just $1.6m and the follow up just $1.65m.
With the home below its advertised range, Mr Cincotta tried a vendor bid at $1.75m to reset buyer expectations after he consulted with the vendor.
But there were no further bids and the home passed in.
14/12 JOHN ST, BLACKBURN
With a $530,000-$580,000 asking price, this two-bedroom unit looked affordable by Melbourne standards.
But with five bidders in the mix, it quickly nudged well past those margins.
The 14/12 John St, Blackburn, home was on the market at $610,000 and still climbing in $5000 rises until the fourth bidder joined in with a $2000 offer at $647,000.
Another entered the fray at $651,000.
But the bids continued for the home listed by McGrath’s James Lewis, and the hammer eventually fell at $670,000.
Almost $100,000 above the top of the advertised range.
12 PIXEL CIRCUIT, COBURG NORTH
A low-maintenance house in the estate built on the grounds of Melbourne’s former Kodak film factory has sold with a bidder for every bedroom.
The three-bedroom 12 Pixel Circuit, Coburg North, home offered modern style and plenty of natural light.
Barry Plant Coburg’s Jarrod Couch put it under the hammer with a $750,000-$825,000 price guide, but after limited bidding early on the sale appeared to stall at $780,000.
Mr Couch went inside for a break to talk with the vendors at that point, and when he returned quickly got another $5000.
And then another $5000, and another.
The bidding slowed to $2500 inccrements after it reached $825,000, but still kept climbing and the home was on the market at $832,500.
Three bids later it was sold for $839,000.
NEW RECORD IN FERNTREE GULLY
The Thursday night auction of 12 Pleasant Drive, Fenrtree Gully, delivered a shock win for its owners when it soared to a $2.037m sale.
With the result more than $300,000 above their resverve, it unexpectedly made them the suburb’s first housing multimillionaires.
Barry Plant Wantirna director Daniel Cripps put it under the hammer with a $1.7m reserve price and was left shocked by a result that set a new record and made the property the first multimillion-dollar residence in the suburb.
Mr Cripps said they had eight bidders registered for the home, but only two had a chance to contest it as they exchanged offers and boxed others out.
A couple downsizing from Malvern claimed the keys to the five-bedroom, double-storey home.
In a Real Content press-release marking the sale, the agent attributed the unexpected result to calling the auction at 6pm on Thursday night, well away from the traditional Saturday sale.
“We timed the auction at 6pm to capture the uninterrupted city views and amazing sunsets, and we were not disappointed,” Mr Cripps said.
The result surpasses the suburb’s previous record price set with the $1.867m sale of 22 George St, Ferntree Gully, in 2022.
That home was also a five-bedroom residence and sold by the same agency.
HOW FIRST-HOME BUYERS SAVED WINTER AUCTIONS
Victorian first-home buyers have saved the real estate auction market this winter, helping keep the clearnce rate around the 60 per cent mark for the past three months.
The balanced market emerged despite more than 12,750 auctions being scheduled from the start of June through to the end of August, with most weekend’s in that time boasting a 10 per cent or more uptick on the same time a year prior.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said the figure was “a lot more than normal in winter” and the state had experienced a “particularly busy” run of auction action, with significant numbers of investors looking to sell off rentals amid skyrocketing mortgage and tax bills.
But it’s the landlord’s long-time rivals, first-home buyers, that saved the day.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released earlier this month show that in June more than 42 per cent of owner-occupier housing loans went to first-home buyers. A year ago it was less than 35 per cent.
“I think that the first-home buyers are absolutely coming to the rescue here and one of the reasons we have seen such resilience in our clearance rate is that they are so active in the market right now.”
Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Jacob Caine said the market had relied “quite heavily on first-homebuyers” in recent months.
“And it’s a fantastic opportunity for them to buy as Melbourne hasn’t seen the price increases that our counterparts around the rest of the country have,” Mr Caine said.
“I think it’s fair to say that the first-home buyers are contributing very significantly to the strength of the auction clearance rates.”
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Originally published as Real Estate auction blog: Livestreams and rolling updates from Melbourne’s auction market
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