Former Premier Denis Napthine sells long-time Kensington home before auction
Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine has bid an early farewell to his Melbourne home of more than 20 years, just before it was due to go to auction. See what it sold for.
Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine has sold his Kensington home of more than 20 years in a pre-auction sale worth $1.285m.
Mr Napthine and wife Peggy bought the 14 Gardner Lane property in 2002 and lived there during his time as Victoria’s last Liberal premier before the Labor Party commenced it’s decade-long run in charge of the state’s parliament in 2014.
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He had intended to put the five-bedroom property under the hammer with a $1.175m-$1.275m price guide on December 7, but Nelson Alexander listing agent Ryan Currie said a local man made a strong offer on December 1 and sparked a brief battle with another family from the area.
Mr Napthine’s property fronts the suburb’s historic stock route, providing a pedestrian-only boulevard in front of the home, with vehicle access to a double garage with a studio via Gardner Lane.
It was these features and the home’s gardens that Mr Currie said had sparked the buyers’ interest, and with end of the year near a rising fear of missing out had propelled competition ahead of the scheduled auction.
The agent added that he had started the week with four auctions scheduled for December 7, and by Tuesday had sold all of the homes ahead of time as buyers made early offers.
“It’s all been buyers wanting to put their best foot forward and feeling a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out),” Mr Currie said.
“That’s starting to kick in at the moment.”
It is believed Mr Napthine plans to downsize and will look for a new home in the new year.
Mr Currie added that there was also a bit of buyer fatigue, with some of the parties he had been dealing with on sales having been looking for homes in rarely-listed areas like Mr Napthine’s for more than a year.
Mr Currie said those buyers were acutely aware that within three weeks the market would effectively shut down for more than a month, prompting them to be more aggressive.
“For good properties, people are going pretty hard at them,” he said.
And the weekend prior Mr Currie said he had sold a similar, though larger home, about 100m away on Bateman Rd for $1.33m.
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Originally published as Former Premier Denis Napthine sells long-time Kensington home before auction
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