A local family battled it out with three others to secure the keys to a three-bedroom Beaumaris home for $1,894,000 at auction on Saturday.
With a quoted price range of $1.6 million to $1.7 million, 427 Balcombe Road sold for $194,000 above reserve in a result that Ray White Cheltenham auctioneer and listing agent, Kevin Chokshi, said was a nice surprise.
“We actually had to lower the price from the original listed price range of $1.7 million to $1.8 million due to lack of interest. This ultimately created a lot of interest which pushed the price up today,” he said.
The auction opened with a bid of $1.5 million, going up quickly to $1.7 million when it was put on the market.
The successful party and the underbidder were both from the area and saw the rare opportunity to secure themselves a family home on a larger size block of 894 square metres.
“The sellers had been there for about 30 years,” Chokshi said.
“This type of block doesn’t come up very often so the last two fought it out very hard to the end.”
The character-filled home was once featured in Beaumaris Modern - a publication dedicated to mid-century architecture - and includes original features, a swimming pool and is close to Black Rock Village and local beaches.
“The buyers were a young family from the area, they came through the property during the first week and loved the spot and the big block of land, it’s exactly what they’re after,” Chokshi said.
It was one of 1000 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 59.9 per cent from 862 reported results across the week, while 151 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Southbank, a buyer from regional Victoria looking for a city apartment secured the keys to 85/8 Wells Street for $1,133,000.
With a price guide of $1 million to $1.1 million, the two-bedroom property fetched more than its reserve of $1.05 million.
The auction between two parties opened with a bid of $900,000 from the underbidder, an upsizer from Melbourne, then went up in $10,000 and $20,000 increments before slowing to bids of $500.
Located in the Sovereign Complex, the city apartment is close to inner-city attractions and includes access to amenities such as a pool, gym, and tennis court – features that Ray White Southbank and Port Phillip auctioneer Michael Pastrikos said attracted owner-buyers.
“You typically find with these older complexes, they’re not investors, they’re owner occupiers, or people looking for a lifestyle purchase or city base,” he said.
While the property market has been up and down across Melbourne this year, Pastrikos said that inner-city apartments have remained steady.
“It’s a very consistent market, so it’s quite resilient. Especially with a property like this, where you’re getting a lot of people that are potentially downsizing or planning for their forever home, I find that the market is not as sensitive to interest rates, so the activity is still there, and it’s very much an owner-occupier market,” he said.
At 108 Mary Avenue Wheelers Hill, it was another battle between the families who, alongside one developer made up the four parties fighting it out for the four-bedroom home, which ultimately sold under the hammer for $1,442,000.
The location – close to Jells Park Primary and Caulfield Grammar - was a major drawcard for the bidders.
“You don’t even have to get out of bed to send your kids to school with Caulfield Grammar over the back fence,” said listing agent Cristine Jones from Ray White Ferntree Gully.
With a quoted price range of $1.3 million – $1.4 million, the auction opened with a conservative bid of $1.2 million but soon took off and quickly reached the reserve of $1,385,000 when it was called on the market.
“The auction was quite competitive,” said Jones, “With the eventual sale price exceeding the owners’ expectations.”
The successful bidders plan to demolish the current house which is currently tenanted and build their dream home on the property.
LJ Hooker head of research Mathew Tiller said the auction clearance rate was a good result for the last major auction weekend of the year, and anticipates that listings will continue to grow in the new year.
“This is a pretty good result given how close we are to the end of the year,” he said.
“Our appraisal numbers have been strong over the past month, which indicates that more homes are looking to go on the market in January and February.”