Melbourne clearance rate soars as spring ends with a bang
It might not have been the traditional spring selling season — but vendors have good reason to beam into summer.
Melbourne’s auction market has ended spring with a bang, with 80 per cent of homes that went under the hammer in the final week of November sold.
In one of the most bizarre results, a $999,999.99 winning bid had to be amended after the auction when the payment system refused to acknowledge the 99c.
The three-bedroom home at 1068 North Road, Bentleigh East, will be officially listed as sold for $999,999, with the vendors happy to forgo the final 99c after their $940,000 reserve was topped.
RELATED: Melbourne homebuyers raise budgets after stamp duty cut
Home owned by Barry Humphries’ brother sold for $285k premium
BuildHer Collective: Bentleigh California bungalow before and after
Ray White Oakleigh’s Leigh Kelepouris said the unusual bid had been a calculated gambit after last week’s Victorian state budget scrapped 25 per cent of stamp duty for established homes sold under $1m.
“The auction had got to $985,000 and they threw that in as a knockout bid,” Mr Kelepouris said.
“I’ve never had an offer like that, but 2020 is a year of firsts and nothing surprises me now.
“It reminds me of when first-home buyers could only get a stamp duty concession up to $600,000.”
For $1 more, the buyer would have had to pay an extra $13,750 in stamp duty, with their savings expected to be tipped into a renovation.
Realestate.com.au recorded an 80 per cent interim clearance rate from 539 auctions last week, with 430 sold.
The healthy clearance rate included a range of reserve-busting sales across the city, with Barry Plant chief executive Mike McCarthy reporting numerous sales more than six-figures above expectations including a $403,000 premium for 21 Kars Street, Frankston, where a medical practice and home sold to another medical professional for $1.503m.
There was also a $200,000 premium paid for 32 Hinkler Road, Glen Waverley, which sold for $2.4m.
Mr McCarthy said it was the agency’s biggest sales week since Melbourne’s lockdown began to ease on September 28.
“With the numbers of inspections and bidders we are seeing, there’s nothing there to say it’s easing,” Mr McCarthy said.
“Despite La Nina, we are in for a very hot summer.”
And in South Yarra, a two-bedroom unit at 5/86 Cromwell Road sold more than $110,000 above expectations for $731,000 as six bidders fought it out.
The Agency’s Peter Kakos said with four still bidding past $700,000, it showed the market was “incredibly buoyant” for first-home buyers.
“There were six bidders, but there were 20 people who wanted to buy it — and the market hasn’t seen this for quite some time,” Mr Kakos said.
“It’s clear people are shifting away from renting and (are) wanting a home, as one thing COVID-19 has taught us is that home is your haven and a lot of people are wanting to get their own nest.”
Marshall White agent Julian Papas won the keys after coming to the auction expecting to pay over the odds for his soon-to-be first home.
He said he had been outbid twice in the past month.
“Real estate agents always pay too much for their homes,” Mr Papas said.
“But as a real estate agent, if you don’t have confidence in the market, then what are you doing?”
MORE: Luke Currie: Jockey lists Essendon home of 17 years
Rod and Andrea Sylvia: Champion bodybuilders list ‘magical’ Mildura home
HomeBuilder extension to benefit NSW and Victoria above others
Originally published as Melbourne clearance rate soars as spring ends with a bang