By Jim Malo
A Brunswick house sold for $1,435,000 in a fierce auction on Saturday between local first home buyers and out-of-state buyers.
The three-bedroom house at 107 Blyth Street had an open-plan living area, timber floors, and north-facing backyard. Nelson Alexander selling agent and auctioneer Jonathan West had the sale; he listed it with a quoted price range of $1.3 million to $1.35 million.
“We’ve had over 50 groups through the open for inspections, and the home is really something you can move into and not do any further work,” he said. “So that’s why it’s been so popular.”
Bidding for the home opened at the bottom of the range, and three bidders traded rapid-fire bids until the price reached $1.4 million. Bidding then slowed and the first home buyers and a couple from Brisbane went head-to-head, before the house sold to the Queenslanders.
The reserve was set at the top of the range; the buyers paid $85,000 more than the reserve.
Vendor Orlando Artavilla said his family was pleased with the sale. “Our expectations were cut back by Jonathan, and we set a reserve of $1.35 million, and we thought: ‘well if we can get near that mark and close to $1.4 million, we’ve got to be happy with that’,” he said.
Jonathan West auctions 107 Blyth Street, Brunswick. Credit: Arsineh Houspian
Artavilla said he’d felt the Brunswick market had been patchy, and wasn’t sure his home would attract enough interest. “We thought, ‘oh are there buyers out there?’ We weren’t sure. It was hard to gauge.”
West said the buyers were moving from Brisbane to be closer to family, who lived in the area.
It was one of 579 auctions scheduled in Melbourne for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.7 per cent from 467 reported results across the week, while 43 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Brighton, a two-bedroom house sold for $255,000 more than its reserve price.
The single-fronted weatherboard Edwardian at 18 Lawrence Street was listed by Nick Johnstone Real Estate director Nick Johnstone with a quoted price range of $1.5 million to $1.6 million. He said the reserve was the bottom of the range.
“Bidding started at $1.5 million,” he said. “It was pretty much on the market right away.”
Johnstone said three buyers contested the auction, and the winning bidder was from a regional area. They paid $1,755,000.
“They’re going to move into it, come down from the country,” he said. “She’s going to have that as her city pad.”
The underbidders were a first home buyer and an investor, Johnstone said.
In Fitzroy North, a stylish cottage with a lush, well-kept garden sold for $1.28 million, more than $100,000 above its reserve price.
The two-bedroom house at 50 Holden Street with modern interiors was within walking distance to supermarkets, parks and public transport. Jellis Craig selling agent Michael Amarant listed the home with a quoted price range of $1,125,000 to $1,175,000.
He said buyers liked the home’s bucolic feel. “The house had very beautiful gardens front and back, it was like Daylesford meets Fitzroy. It had a really nice energy and a really nice spirit,” he said.
Two bidders contested the auction, Amarant said. Bidding began at $1.1 million, but the second bid of $1.2 million cleared the vendor’s reserve, which was set at the top of the price range. The sale price was $105,000 more than the reserve.
“It was one of the quickest auctions of my career,” he said. “It would have broken a land speed record, I think we were finished [after four minutes] or something.
“It was a subsequent seven or eight bids and that was it.”
Amarant said first home buyers beat downsizers to secure the keys.
In St Kilda, a two-bedroom apartment with three car spaces sold to another first home buyer for $880,000.
The unit at 6/1 The Esplanade was in a block of about 35 mid-century apartments, but had been modernised by its previous owners. Biggin & Scott selling agent and auctioneer Fraser Lack listed it with a quoted price range of $725,000 to $775,000. The reserve was set at $760,000.
“It was a beautiful mid-century apartment with big proportions, big living spaces … smaller builds are definitely preferable,” Lack said. “Buyers are looking for things that have a really good communal feel.”
He said three bidders contested the auction. Lack opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $700,000.
“It was slow to start unfortunately, no one wanted to be the first to place the bid, the first on the dance floor … Everyone was gun shy,” he said. “Once I asked for $710,000, someone bid … and it went up in ten-thousands.”
The first home buyer who won the auction was renting “around the corner”, Lack said. The direct underbidder was an older woman who was also renting in the area.
The sale price was $120,000 more than the reserve.