South Australia leads nation’s auction sales race

Melbourne’s pricey Mornington Peninsula yielded the nation’s top sale, but it was South Australia that once again ranked as the strongest weekend auction ­market.

13 Caraar Creek Lane, at Mornington in Victoria, sold post-auction.

Melbourne’s pricey Mornington Peninsula yielded the nation’s top sale, but it was South Australia that once again ranked as the strongest weekend auction ­market.

SA notched up an 87 per cent success rate, followed by NSW on 86 per cent and Victoria on 84 per cent, according to the realestate.com.au tally.

Adelaide’s top sale was an affordable four-bedroom home at Westbourne Park that fetched $1.82m. The Elmo Ave house, last sold in 1980, was a 20th century-built Georgian-style home on a 940sq m block in the inner southern suburb. The listing attracted over 5700 views on realestate.com.au, and selling agent Simon Tanner from Tanner Real Estate says four of the 12 registered bidders participated in the auction.

Adelaide’s cheapest weekend sale was $390,0000 at Brahma Lodge, in Adelaide’s north. The three-bedroom Kent Ave house was built in 2015 at a $164,000 building cost.

There was a four-bedroom house sale at Glenunga for $1,661,000, which had been ­listed with $1,375,000 guidance.

Regional SA sales included a four-bedroom house at Crafers in the Adelaide Hills that fetched $1,025,000. But Ray White pulled its Crafers listing, which had been built for the Hardy family in he 1950s. The cute cottage, last traded at $450,000 in 2017, was marketed as having Airbnb potential by listing agent David Parkins.

The bullish 87 per cent SA sales tally came despite Ray White SA chief auctioneer John Morris being in isolation with a bout of Covid-19. Morris typically oversees about 34 per cent of all auctions in the state.

“So far this year we have seen an 82 per cent clearance rate, 8.7 bidder registrations at auctions and active bidding at 96 per cent of all auctions,” he advised.

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Sandstone classic

One of Adelaide’s priciest current house listings is at Glenelg South. The tightly held 1916 beachfront residence has $4,500,000 to $4,950,000 price guidance through Booth Real Estate agent Jamie Brown. Offers close April 5.

The sandstone return-veranda residence sits on a corner block, with a master bedroom and smoking room with curved bay window fronting the water.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on 1012sq m at 36 South Esplanade has attracted over 13,000 views on realestate.com.au. Inspections have been mostly local inquiries, “together with the usual amount of interstate interest,” Brown said.

“It would be difficult to find a more classic beachfront offering in South Australia,” Brown suggested.

36 South Esplanade, Glenelg South, above, is listed with a price guide just less than $5m.

It last sold at $2.2m in 2006 when bought by DrRoy Scragg from the family who’d owned it for over eight decades, having bought in unusual circumstances.

The house was built by ­George Kohler, who owned a scientific equipment manufacturing and repair business. Its design by Albert Conrad came at a time when Glenelg was seen as a seaside holiday destination for Adelaideans.

The story goes that in 1920, Kohler was playing two-up with Charles Moore and ran out of money, betting his house on the next throw. Kohler owed £3000, pledging he’d pay his debt with the transfer of his home. Moore brought the money to Kohler on a Friday in an effort to convince Kohler’s wife that he had sold the property and not lost it gambling. Kohler then gave it back to Moore the following Monday.

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St Kilda stunner

Melbourne hosted its busiest auction week of the year to date, with 1606 homes taken to auction across the city. Its preliminary clearance rate rose, with 69.7 per cent of the 1360 results collected so far by CoreLogic recording a successful result.

Melbourne’s top advised sale was $7.75m in St Kilda West.

The double-fronted 1890s house on 446sq m was sold through Marshall White at $1m above its reserve, with just two bidders.

The 15 Loch St home had a recent Tom Robertson Architects renovation.

There had been an initial $5.8m to $6.3m price guidance, which morphed to $6m to $6.5m pre-auction.

15 Loch Street, St Kilda West, above, in Melbourne, drew $7.75m.

“The market is at its strongest for ready-to-move-in and live,” the underbidder buyers’ agent Mal James said.

The house came with a rear double garage accessed from Park Lane, with powder-room and a home office. There are gas pool heater solar panels and 15kW battery storage.

It last sold at $3.94m in 2010.

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Mornington deal

There was an unreported result from the Mornington Peninsula, when a post-auction deal was struck for probably more than $11m for Caraar in Mornington. The Caraar Creek Lane hillside five-bedroom contemporary home on 2642sq m saw just the one bid at $10.65m before a $10.85m vendor bid ended the auction without a sale.

The sale price sat within the top half of the revised $10.5m to $11.55m pre-auction price guide range from Liz Todd of Coastal Agents.

The home, with a home theatre, a six-car underground garage and a wine cellar, attracted 70,000 page views on realestate.co.au.

It had been listed in late 2021 with initial $12m to $13.2m guidance, highlighting the weakening market.

The land at Beleura Hill, Mornington’s highest point, had been bought in 2008 for $2.45m by Stephen Winchester, the prominent plastic surgeon.

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Rose Bay in bloom

Sydney’s top sale came pre-auction in Rose Bay. An $8m offer was accepted for the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 10 Plumer Rd, through PPD Real Estate. The two-storey contemporary home on 504sq m was designed by architect Philip Abram. The block last traded in 1997 at $1.025m.

Across Sydney, 1100 auctions were held, overtaking last week‘s 1029 as Sydney’s second busiest week of the year to date.

Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate fell to 68 per cent.

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Gold Coast focus

The trend of Sydneysiders buying in Southeast Queensland continues.

A weekend Gold Coast offering saw 29/1 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise sell for $2.6m through Ray White agents Mark Stafford and Andrew Rouse.

It was offered by the executors of property investor Harry Habul, who was an early shareholder in S8, the holiday management rights company set up by Chris Scott that listed on the ASX in 2001.

Seven of the 11 registered bidders participated in the online auction, which drew interest from local, interstate and international buyers.

Set in the 1972 complex, One the Esplanade, formerly known as Allawah, it has 162sq m internal space after two apartments were joined together over two decades ago.

The apartment buyer was from Sydney.

Ray White data shows 21 per cent of Gold Coast auction buyers were from interstate over the past month.