A primary school teacher paid $980,000 for her first home at a red-hot auction on Saturday, but felt she overpaid to land the two-bedroom Brunswick townhouse.
Faces fell among the crowd of mostly first home buyers and their supporters when the price for 18 Eva Buhlert Close spiralled far above its guide of $720,000 to $790,000.
The auction was one of 989 scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.4 per cent from 726 reported results, while 84 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
“I completely overpaid,” said the happy new owner Juliana, who gave only her first name. “There was a couple of very deep pockets [at auction].”
Juliana said she had looked at more than 50 properties over the past two months before she became part of a six-party bidding war for the neat home close to Sydney Road, but she was philosophical.
“You cannot put a price on the amount of happiness this place is going to bring. Not just for me, for my community,” she said.
Juliana competed against deep-pocketed buyers at auction. Credit: Wayne Taylor
After the auction, Juliana was planning to host a party and thought she could fit about 12 band members in the front room.
“I found my tribe in Brunswick. I belong here.”
The bidding was slow to start and began with an offer of $700,000, but then shot up in increments of $10,000 between two parties. A third bidder entered at $820,000 and others waited even longer to join in.
The bidding became so rapid that Ray White auctioneer Jamil Allouche reached the $870,000 mark before he was able to say that the home had been on the market for a while.
Ray White Brunswick auctioneer Jamil Allouche at the sought-after townhouse.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Juliana made her first bid at $885,000 and traded increments as small as $1000 with a young couple, until she knocked them out of the race at $980,000.
Allouche said the vendor’s reserve was within the advertised price range, at $770,000.
“It far exceeded our expectations. The vendors are very happy,” he said. “It’s a gorgeous location, gorgeous property.”
Two young women, supporting their friend who missed out, also thought the sale was expensive. “The price was quite high considering the size of the house,” one said. The other added: “It feels the prices have jumped even in the past year.”
In Abbotsford, a warehouse conversion sold for $1,275,000 to a first home buyer supported by his family.
Three young bidders competed for the two-bedroom home at 23 Mollison Street, which was listed with price hopes of between $1.1 million and $1.2 million. The reserve price was set at the top of the range.
Jellis Craig Richmond selling agent Sarah Sherlock said bidding began at the lower end of the range and increased fast.
“We had three parties just go for gold,” she said. “Warehouses, they don’t come up that often.”
In terms of the market generally, she said some homes were selling within their campaign and some took a little bit longer. Higher interest rates were also having an impact, she said.
A young family paid $8.12 million at auction for the renovated Albert Park home of skincare mogul Geoff Pearce.
The sought-after location, sizeable block and period facade attracted two bidders to the five-bedroom home at 150 Kerferd Road.
The Albert Park residence was listed with a price guide of $7.4 million to $7.75 million. It was owned by Pearce, co-founder of clean beauty company BWX, known for its Sukin skincare brand. Pearce is also chairman of COVID-19 test maker Ellume.
He bought the home for $7,725,000 in 2022, public records show, from Bruce Crome, who sold tea retailer T2 to Unilever in 2013.
Set on a block of 466 square metres, the Edwardian residence dated to about 1900 but had been fully renovated with amenities such as Gaggenau kitchen appliances, a heated pool, basement gym/media room and 1600-bottle wine tasting room.
Jellis Craig listing agent Simon Gowling said a vendor bid of $7.4 million began proceedings, before two bidders made offers that ranged from $50,000 down to $10,000, followed by some knockout blows at the end.
“A nice young family from Essendon bought it,” he said. “Homes that are fully renovated like this, with the way building costs have gone, they are the most popular homes we have at the moment.”
He declined to reveal the reserve. The underbidder was a couple from Perth.
Gowling said the market in his area is patchy and more challenging for homes in need of renovation or for the lower-end $1 million to $2.5 million bracket.
“The more expensive the property, the easier it is to sell,” he said.
Elsewhere, a three-bedroom Toorak terrace built in 1890 sold for $3.25 million to a couple downsizing from the Boroondara area.
The new owners made a bid at auction for 290 Williams Road, then it passed in and sold in post-auction negotiations, Kay & Burton selling agent Nicole Gleeson said.
It was listed with a price guide of $3 million to $3.3 million. Gleeson said the location near Toorak village, the facade and double garage appealed to buyers, who could move straight in even though there was some scope to make improvements.
The home was part of Royal Terrace, the row of four National Trust-classified terrace homes, and was sold by Olympic alpine skier Malcolm Milne.
Gleeson said the reserve was $3.3 million but there was no reserve until the auction was held. “I think we probably sold it at the reserve,” she said.
She said it was not often terrace homes came up for sale in the area.
“It was a very South Yarra-style home at a Toorak address,” she said. “I’d live there in a heartbeat.”
Speaking about the market overall, she said buyers would compete if the price is right. “It is a bit hit-and-miss, it is a bit fickle,” she said.