A four-bedroom home in Pascoe Vale South has sold to a local family for $1,655,000 in a rapid-fire auction on Saturday, the price increasing more than five-fold in less than two decades.
Seven parties braved the heat to bid on 7 Balmoral Avenue, but just three parties made offers in the end. It had a listed price guide of $1.4 million to $1.5 million.
A buyer’s advocate, who ended up being the underbidder, immediately placed a bid of $1.5 million, matching the property’s reserve and knocking several parties out of the race.
A second party, and the ultimate buyer, was quick to counter the opening bid with a $10,000 rise. A third party put forward offers in between but was no match for the other two bidders, who began trading $1000 bids quicker than the auctioneer could count.
After 43 bids, the ultimate buyer put forward a final $4000 bid to purchase the property some $155,000 above reserve.
Ray White Brunswick’s Matthew Schroeder said the parties who didn’t participate in the auction were scared off by the high opening bid.
7 Balmoral Avenue sold for $1,655,000 in a rapid-fire auction on Saturday. Credit: Justin McManus
“This was a much stronger auction performance than what we’ve seen of late,” Schroeder said.
Vendors Peter and Sandra Marinakis, who are now embarking on a sea change to the Bellarine Peninsula, were thrilled with the result.
“It was better than expected,” Peter told The Age. “You kind of have a figure on the day, but it just met all expectations and more.”
The home last sold for $320,000 in 2004, records show.
It was one of 963 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 60.7 per cent from 868 reported results across the week, while 101 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Heidelberg Heights, a family buying their first home won the keys to 73 Porter Road for $900,000, outbidding three others.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer Nick Smith placed a vendor bid of $820,000 on the four-bedroom house to start the auction. One party then put forward a $20,000 rise where a bidding war ensued.
Smith said the renovated home, listed with a price guide of $820,000 to $897,500, had attracted first home buyers looking to break into the market.Its reserve was $880,000.
Meanwhile, a first home buyer nabbed a two-bedroom fixer-upper terrace in Fitzroy North for $885,000 at auction on Saturday, outbidding two other first-timers.
Bidding on 26 Coleman Street opened with an offer of $790,000. It had a listed price guide of $790,000 to $830,000.
All three parties continued to raise the price in $10,000 increments, fast surpassing the $830,000 reserve.
Jellis Craig Northcote auctioneer Sam Rigopoulos said the underbidder, a first home buyer from the suburb, declared he was finished bidding five times before jumping back into the race with a $1000 bid.
But it was another first home buyer, from Melbourne’s north, who put forward the final $1000 bid to purchase the home for $885,000.
Despite the original terrace home requiring renovations, Rigopoulos said the price point was low for Fitzroy North, making it attractive to first time buyers.
“There aren’t too many homes you can buy in that part of the world for under $1 million,” Rigopoulos said. “It was only on 113 square meters of land, so the price reflected the size and the work that were required.”
Rigopoulos said the original-condition home had been owned by the same family for some 70 years and that the 95-year-old vendor was thrilled with the result.
In Bentleigh East, a spacious five-bedroom home with a heated pool and double garage sold under the hammer to a local family for $2.41 million on Saturday.
Just two bidders battled it out for the keys to 100 Brady Road in a competitive auction, despite a slow start.
The buyers – a young family living just a few streets away – placed the opening bid of $1.7 million. It had a guide of $2 million to $2.2 million.
O’Brien Real Estate auctioneer Harrison Mosley said it was a slow back-and-forth until the price reached $2 million.
In the end, the winner placed a final $5000 bid to purchase the spacious home, some $160,000 above the $2.25 million reserve.
Mosley said the vendors, who are downsizing to the Mornington Peninsula, were “over the moon” with the result.
“This was certainly a fun auction,” he said. “There’s been a lot of them that have been not as competitive as this one. It’s definitely a tougher market for auctions, with clearance rates still probably hitting 50 to 60 per cent, but I’ve found that good family homes are still travelling well.”