By Tom Carey
A vendor-builder in Templestowe made a tidy profit on their four-bedroom house that sold at auction on Saturday for $2.4 million.
They had undertaken a transformative renovation to the property which led to interest from four buyers at auction. Records show the vendors purchased the property at 76 Wood Street for $1,060,000 in 2019.
A couple beat three young families for the renovated house. Proceedings opened at the bottom of the quoted price range of $2 million to $2.2 million.
Jellis Craig Doncaster listing agent and partner Nicole Qiu said competitive bidding in the auction meant the property was not declared on the market until $2.2 million. Bidders offered $25,000 increments throughout. Qiu said the successful buyers made a knockout bid of $40,000 to earn the keys to the Templestowe home.
Qiu said that the couple were downsizing from Park Orchards.
“They [the buyers] were quite strong, they were very adamant, they wanted it,” said Qiu.
The property has an indoor-outdoor entertaining area with a deck overlooking the backyard. The two-car garage at the rear has an additional living space.
It was one of 612 auctions scheduled in Melbourne for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 66.5 per cent from 418 reported results, while 49 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Highett, a local young family beat three other competitors for a three-bedroom property that sold at auction for $1,776,000.
Bidding opened at $1.4 million for the house at 1 Lawson Parade. Once bidding reached the vendor’s reserve of $1.6 million, the two buyers who made the early bidding stayed quiet. Instead, the eventual buyer and one other competitor entered the auction. They traded bids until the sale. All competitors were young families or couples.
Ray White Cheltenham listing agent and auctioneer Kevin Chokski said the auction lasted for 12 minutes.
“It definitely had a lot of heat, people were wanting to buy pretty aggressively,” he said.
“The lack of stock in the market is driving up the sales in some parts of the area.”
The quoted price range for the property was $1.45 million to $1.55 million. The vendors sold the house to move closer to their family.
In Flemington, a freestanding three-bedroom Victorian went to auction on Saturday but was passed in on a vendor bid at $1.4 million.
Three registered buyers attended the auction for the house at 12 Turnbridge Street. But none were willing to raise their hands. Nelson Alexander Flemington listing agent Jayson Watts said that he was confident there would be a formal transaction in the next 48 hours.
The quoted price range of the property was $1.4 million to $1.5 million. After the auction, the property had a sale price of $1.5 million.
“We’ve seen a significant decrease in buyer commitment for certain property types in certain locations, and Flemington is one of those,” said Watts.
Watts said buyers have cited concerns around inflation and interest rate rises for their lack of activity.
The property was fully renovated and had a carport at its rear.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said the Melbourne property market had a positive weekend in contrast to the soft market trends of the last month.
“A little stronger than last week’s result, but I suspect that reflects a lower level of listings,” said Oliver.
Oliver said it was unlikely that Melbourne’s market will continue to improve in the coming weeks.
“We do see some volatility in the numbers week-to-week. It is quite possible it won’t be sustained.
“I suspect next week’s numbers will be soft again.”