By Alexandra Middleton
A quirky Victorian home in Prahran that will be knocked down by its new owners sold for $2.89 million during a rapid-fire auction on Saturday.
Two local families vied for the keys to 18 Alfred Street, a deceased estate, in what Jellis Craig Stonnington auctioneer David Sciola described as a quick and competitive sell-off.
It was one of 800 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 65.9 per cent from 627 reported results, while 60 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The ultimate buyer placed the opening bid of $2.2 million, before a second bidder quickly joined the race. They traded bids of $50,000 back and forth, flying well above the property’s $2.4 million reserve.
Bids slowed to increments of $10,000 in the final moments of the auction before the four-bedroom home sold under the hammer.
Sciola said while the property was old and rundown, its size (482 square metres) and absence of heritage overlay were a huge drawcard for the buyers, a local family with plans to build their forever home.
18 Alfred Street, Prahran, sold for $2.89 million at auction on Saturday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“It was a knockdown. It wasn’t really able to be salvaged. But it is just a great block with lots of space for a new home,” he said.
“There are a lot of heritage overlays in the surrounding streets, so to get one without heritage overlay is very rare.”
Sciola said the previous owner, an artist who lived in the Victorian home for close to seven decades, spent years painting murals on the interior walls.
“She started when the kids were younger, just stencilling on the walls and actually covering up some of the cracks, and then it turned into more elaborate paintings, and eventually over the decades it turned into these big murals,” he said.
The previous owner of 18 Alfred Street, Prahran painted the walls herself.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
In Newport, a local first home buyer purchased a three-bedroom 1940s railway home for $855,000 at auction, beating two other bidders.
Ray White Williamstown auctioneer Dean Stanley placed a vendor bid of $790,000, before three parties began throwing $10,000 and $5000 increases for 27 Croker Street.
It was declared on the market at $825,000. The buyer placed a final $2000 bid to secure the property, which was built to house local railway workers.
Stanley said Newport offered an affordable price point for first home buyers looking to break into the Williamstown area.
In Essendon, an original condition ’60s home sold for $1.72 million to a young family with plans to build their dream home after outbidding five others during a marathon auction.
On the market for the first time since it was built by the vendors in 1962, the three-bedroom property at 44 Fitzgerald Road sold some $260,000 above reserve in a competitive sell-off that lasted 45 minutes.
Jellis Craig Moonee Valley auctioneer John Morello said the auction was slow to start, placing a vendor bid of $1.3 million before an investor couple finally offered a $25,000 rise, where bidding stalled.
“I had to threaten to pass it in a couple of times because everyone was holding back,” Morello said.
The price eventually climbed to the $1.46 million reserve, then an all-out bidding war erupted between six eager parties.
Morello said the bids were flying thick and fast, with parties offering up increments of anywhere between $850 and $5000. A total of 76 bids were recorded.
“I felt like I was literally in the Olympic marathon because of how long it took and the amount of bids,” he said. “It’s probably one of the best auctions I’ve seen in a long time.”
The Essendon property has been owned by the same family for more than 60 years.Credit: Jellis Craig
The buyers, a couple with young kids, placed a final $1000 bid to secure the property.
Morello said the family was thrilled to be moving back to Essendon after living in Coburg. They had plans to build their dream home on the 676-square-metre block.
In Hawthorn, a Sydney couple on the hunt for a Melbourne bolthole beat out five other bidders to purchase an apartment for $720,000.
Bidding for the two-bedroom home at 3/1 Domville Avenue kicked off at $600,000, with all six parties quick to get in on the action. They traded offers of $10,000 increments before bidding slowed to $1000 lots once the home was declared on the market at $680,000.
It came down to three parties in the end, including a first home buyer and a buyer from Perth, before the Sydney couple won the keys to the stylish ground-floor apartment.
The Agency partner and auctioneer Luke Saville said the buyers had recently sold their home in Sydney and were planning to live between Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
Saville said the Melbourne apartment market has remained strong and is proving popular with first home buyers, but many are getting beaten out at auctions by more experienced buyers.