By Carmen Forward and Jim Malo
A stylish Prahran terrace house fetched $5.7 million in a competitive auction on Saturday, defying Melbourne’s patchy market to push above its price guide.
Three bidders competed for the two-storey, four-bedroom home at 52 Chatsworth Road, which had a price guide of $5.2 million to $5.6 million.
The property was one of 1183 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 59.3 per cent from 1027 reported results across the week, while 130 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Marshall White’s James McCormack said the Prahran home drew three passive buyers who had not been searching for a home, but who were interested to buy this home in particular.
“[They] came into the market because this was a special opportunity, a very rare home,” he said. “It is a beautiful example of a Victorian terrace home.
“It was meticulously looked after, one of the most pristine examples you will see of a home like this.”
He declined to comment on the interested buyers but said the auction was well paced with consistent bidding and that it will be a challenging listing to replace for the underbidders. He said the reserve was at the top of the range and the home was on the market just over the top end of the range.
Well-positioned, A-list homes are selling well in this market, he said.
Morrell and Koren buyer agent Emma Bloom watched the auction but didn’t bid. She said three buyers took part and bidding was so intense that the auctioneer lost his voice.
“It was pretty hard and fast and it was a testament to the excitement, the agent lost his voice,” Bloom said. “He was so happy to be getting a great result for his vendor.”
She said buyers were interested in the home because it was move-in ready.
“It’s at the epicentre of Prahran and a lot of people could just move in. Those are the heroes at the moment, the turnkeys.”
Two Bayside families seeking to upsize competed for a Beaumaris house at auction on Saturday that sold under the hammer for $2.13 million.
There was spirited bidding for the five-bedroom home with a swimming pool at 58 Bonanza Road, next door to a park, and a guide price of between $1,825,000 and $1.9 million.
Bidding opened at $1.76 million with a vendor bid, with $1.8 million the first bid from a buyer. Twenty thousand dollar bids were placed most of the way until the home hit the market at $1.94 million. Bidding dropped soon after to $10,000 bids until it sold for $2.13 million.
Matthew Pillios from Kay & Burton Bayside said the house had a resort-type feel with “palm trees, really large swimming pool, and huge accommodation.”
Pillios said the beach suburb of Beaumaris is quiet for local residents as it has no train line. “It is a cross between a local beach suburb with a touch of holiday destination,” he said.
Pillios said the Melbourne market is on the way up. “The energy that I’ve experienced in the last four weeks has probably been the best and most positive in 18 months,” he said.
The vendor is downsizing locally in Bayside.
The home last traded for $1,335,000, in 2008, records show.
A four-bedroom house in Yarraville with two driveways sold for $1.74 million to a local buyer who was “absolutely stoked”. The elegant home was beautifully presented at 16 Fairlie Street, with Victorian period character and modern convenience.
Guided between $1.65 million and $1.75 million, three were interested with two bidding. The weather was quite warm, and the auction was held on the wide tree-lined street before a crowd of thirty people.
Bidding opened at $1.65 million from a buyer’s advocate, and after a $10,000 bid, it was announced as on the market at $1.7 million. Bids from $10,000 to $2500 were placed until the home sold for $40,000 above its $1.7 million reserve for $1.74 million.
Glen Baird from Jellis Craig Inner West said the market was quite strong at the moment as many are trying to settle before Christmas.
Baird said the two driveways, one on the left and one on the right meant it would be easy to move cars around. “They don’t have off-street parking often [in this area] so this has ample room for as many cars as you want, which is good,” he said.
The buyer is a young family from Seddon. The vendor will be relocating to Williamstown.
The property last traded for $120,000 in 1989, records show.
In Brunswick East, a two-bedroom weatherboard home with original wallpaper at 2 Parkview Avenue, sold for $370,000 above its $1.15 million reserve for $1.52 million to a local buyer from Brunswick West.
The cottage with a big yard was marketed as a renovation project. Six families bid at the auction held before a crowd of 80 people.
Bidding opened at $1.2 million after a $1 million opening bid was declined. Then fierce bids “went bonkers” as odd amounts ranging from $10,000 to $28,000 were placed until it sold for $1.52 million.
Ray White’s Jamil Allouche said there was a shift in the market.
“What we’re seeing in the moment is a bit more potency in the market,” he said.
The home had been in the vendor’s family for over fifty years. The vendor was “over the moon.”
AMP’s chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Melbourne’s clearance rate of 59.3 per cent was a reflection of the Victorian economy.
“I suspect both cities [Melbourne and Sydney] will remain fairly soft until we get more confidence that interest rates are coming down, and that may not occur until at least three months away,” he said.
Oliver expects rate cuts to occur in February, however, noted that others are saying May and “money markets are saying July… even August.”
With Elizabeth Redman