By Alexandra Middleton
A young family purchased a four-bedroom Albert Park home, complete with a pool and wine cellar, for $6.25 million during a rapid-fire auction on Saturday.
Three parties traded bids in front of a large crowd for 102 Kerferd Road, sold by former AFL chief financial officer Ian Anderson.
The renovated Edwardian home was listed with a price guide of $5 million to $5.5 million.
Faced with a large but reluctant crowd on the first Saturday of spring, Jellis Craig Port Phillip auctioneer Warwick Gardiner was forced to place a vendor bid of $5.2 million.
One bidder eventually put forward a $50,000 rise before a second party countered his offer and bidding took off. The two traded bids until the price hit the $5.6 million reserve and a third party, who ended up being the buyer, entered the race.
The home sold under the hammer for $650,000 above reserve to a local family who had been on the hunt for their forever home, leaving another family and a bidder from Sydney to miss out.
Jellis Craig Port Phillip auctioneer Warwick Gardiner at the auction of 102 Kerferd Road, Albert Park, which sold for $6.25m Credit: LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI
They paid some $4.5 million more than what Anderson paid nearly two decades ago.
Anderson purchased the home in 2006 for $1.75 million, records show, and carried out stylish renovations to expand the property for his growing family.
“I’m hoping a family moves in because we built it with four bedrooms for a family of three,” Anderson told The Age pre-auction.
Anderson retired from the AFL in 2015, after 15 years as CFO, and has since moved to Queensland.
Former AFL CFO Ian Anderson lived in the Albert Park home for nearly 20 years.Credit: LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI
Gardiner said he expected to see good results in the premium house market this spring.
“These are generational homes and when they do come to the market, they’re really hotly contested, because people still have the aspirations to raise their children in Albert Park,” he said.
“Coming into spring, we’ve found that most buyers understand that we’re at the top of the current rate cycle and that the outlook for interest rate reductions is coming, so I’m finding that people who have been previously sitting on the fence [are now] looking to purchase.”
It was one of 949 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.1 per cent from 668 reported results, while 76 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Melbourne recorded an auction clearance rate of 60 per cent over the month of August, Domain data shows.
In Melbourne’s CBD, a two-bedroom fixer-upper apartment sold to a buyer who already owns in the building for $475,000 at auction.
Harcourts Melbourne City auctioneer Dionne Wilson said four bidders competed fiercely for 38/24 Little Bourke Street.
“We had an opening bid at $230,000, and we had very active bidding from there,” she said.
Following some rapid-fire bidding, the auction came down to two parties who both owned apartments in the Little Bourke Street complex. The buyer put forward a $5000 rise to secure the property, which requires renovations.
“Given that the final two bidders already owned in the building, I think they were able to see the opportunity at hand,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the apartment’s reserve was slightly above the listed price guide of $300,000 to $330,000.
Meanwhile, a two-bedroom Prahran home that last sold for $63,500 in 1983 has fetched $1,313,000 at auction.
A young couple with plans to live in and eventually update 16 Vail Street beat three others in a competitive sell-off.
Biggin & Scott Stonnington auctioneer Michael Tynan kicked off the auction with a vendor bid of $1.05 million. One party offered a bid of $25,000 before another put forward a $10,000 bid.
A third party then upped the ante with a $115,000 bid, pushing the price above the reserve to $1.2 million.
Tynan said the home was declared on the market at $1.15 million, at the top end of the $1.05 million to $1.15 million price guide.
16 Vail Street last sold for $63,500 in 1983. It fetched $1,313,000 at auction on Saturday.Credit: Biggin & Scott Stonnington
All four parties traded bids until the property sold under the hammer to the couple, in their 30s, for $163,000 above reserve, and some $1,249,500 more than what the vendors paid in 1983.
Tynan said the vendors were selling the family home on behalf of their mother.
He added that the buyers had been looking for a while and were thrilled to secure the single-fronted home in a prime location.
“We’re still seeing some really good prices for good family homes in the area. For this home, a little bit of work needs to be done inside, but it’s a fabulous location, and they could add a lot of value to it,” Ryan said.
The same family has owned the home since 1983.Credit: Biggin & Scott
“People are still willing to pay a good price for good homes in the area.”
In Pascoe Vale South, a first home buyer paid $705,000 for a two-bedroom townhouse, beating three others.
Ray White auctioneer Jamil Allouche said competition was fierce for 7/277 Ohea Street. He placed a vendor bid of $610,000 before two bidders began trading offers, quickly rising above the $670,000 reserve.
“I had two bidders go pretty aggressively at each other until we reached $680,000,” Allouche said.
Two other parties then joined the race and bidding slowed to $5000 increments. The home, which was listed with a price guide of $610,000 to $670,000, sold under the hammer to a buyer local to the Pascoe Vale area.
Allouche said it was mainly first home buyers who had shown interest in the stylish home, which offered an attractive price point for buyers looking to break into the market.