By Tom Carey
An aged house in Glen Iris has sold for $2,595,000 at auction to a family with plans to renovate down the track.
Three buyers competed in front of a crowd of 60 people on Saturday for the five-bedroom house at 4 Moonya Road. The property sold within the $2.4 million to $2.6 million quoted price range. The sale price was $15,000 more than the vendor’s reserve.
Belle Property Glen Iris principal and auctioneer Steve Burke said buyers were hesitant to begin the auction. A vendor bid at bottom of the guide opened the contest before a genuine bid was made at $2.42 million.
Five minutes of silence preceded a flurry of 20 bids made in just a few minutes, Burke said.
“It took off like wildfire, but it took such a long time to get to that point,” he said.
A young family beat a young professional couple for the property. The new owners will live in the house in its current condition for the short term, but plan to renovate in the future.
The home at 4 Moonya Road will eventually be renovated. Credit: Belle Property
It was one of 414 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 55.9 per cent from 261 reported results, while 45 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Richmond, an owner-occupier who arrived at the auction halfway through ended up as the new purchaser of a two-bedroom, fixer-upper house.
Three buyers, including a would-be first home buyer, attended the auction at 26 Duke Street but chose not to bid.
Biggin & Scott Richmond director and auctioneer Andrew Crotty called for an opening bid of $800,000. The late arrival, who had never before seen the house, made the single $800,000 bid. Crotty then sold the house at the price after conferring with the vendor.
He said that the new owner had viewed pictures of the property online before the auction. The buyer suggested they would undertake a renovation. They were relocating from Sydney.
The property had a quoted price range of $800,000 to $850,000.
“It represents what the value is in the market and I think everyone’s happy,” said Crotty.
In Greenvale, a family from Meadow Heights bought a five-bedroom house on a 2653-square-metre block for $1,607,000 in post-auction negotiations.
Three buyers participated in the auction at 30 Palamino Valley Court. Bidding began with a vendor bid at $1.5 million. After eight bids were made from the buyers, the auction slowed down and was passed in at $1.55 million.
The highest bidder was invited to negotiate with the vendor and bought the home. The sale was within the quoted price range of $1.5 to $1.65 million.
“The ones who were looking to do it would have all been moving from smaller homes to a larger home with a potential to do their own thing,” said Barry Plant Gladstone Park director and auctioneer Bill Karp.
“It needed to be completely refurbished, and the land had to be redone as well,” he said.
In Carrum, only one buyer participated in an auction for a townhouse near Carrum Beach that was passed in at $1,035,000.
The auction at 5B Millicent Avenue opened with a vendor bid at $990,000. The buyer, from Geelong, made a $1.01 million bid. After no other parties offered to bid, Ray White Chelsea director and auctioneer Shane O’Sughrue made a second vendor bid at $1.02 million.
The auction was passed in after the final bid at $1,035,000 from the owner-occupier. In post-auction negotiations, the buyer and vendor agreed to a sale price of $1,067,500.
“Buyer sentiment is a bit soft,” said O’Sughrue. He said high interest rates had had an impact on the local market.
“By the end of the year, hopefully it kicks off again. But at the present, it’s been a little bit difficult.”
O’Sughrue had listed the home with a quoted price range of $990,000 to $1,085,000.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said the Melbourne property market had continued to soften over the long weekend.
“Subdued demand and listings running above where they were a year ago, you’re seeing this continued weakness in clearance rates,” said Oliver.
“I suspect it’s all the result of the ongoing high level of interest rates.
“The basic picture is one of higher listings than the long weekend a year ago, and much weaker clearances, which is a sign that there are more distressed listings out there, and buyer demand is depressed.
“A long weekend can often cause distortions, but that said, it is consistent with the ongoing weakness we had been seeing.”
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.