An investor who had his heart set on a Middle Park apartment by the beach bid against himself to win the keys, paying $850,000 at auction on Saturday.
The two-bedroom unit across the road from the bay at 1/187-188 Beaconsfield Parade drew a crowd of more than 30, including neighbours.
It was one of 577 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday, the first weekend after the Reserve Bank’s first meeting of the year, at which it held the cash rate steady.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.4 per cent from 439 reported results, while 39 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The Middle Park pad was listed with a price guide of $800,000 to $850,000, making it the cheapest ground floor unit on the water available in the exclusive suburb. Among the other unit sales at that price or less in Middle Park over the past year, and the units for sale there now, all have been either set back from the beach or on an upper level.
Bidding began with an offer of $700,000 before auctioneer Arthur Apostoleros of Buxton Port Phillip made a vendor bid of $750,000.
The Middle Park unit passed in and sold later.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The same bidder countered with a $5000 raise, and after a break one more vendor bid of $775,000 was placed.
The keen buyer raised his price by $1000 at which the property passed in. After a short negotiation, it sold for $850,000, the reserve price, updated from earlier hopes of $800,000 due to the strong interest during the campaign.
“I’ve won TattsLotto,” said the buyer, who declined to give his name, as he expressed his joy and relief in securing the property.
Buxton Port Phillip selling agent Nancy Yang said many buyers for this type of property, whether neighbours, downsizers or couples looking to move by the beach, were interested to purchase but felt nervous to raise their hands.
The unit is across the road from the bay.Credit: Chris Hopkins
But not the new owner, who had previously passed by the block, taken a picture and circled unit 1. He sent it to Yang, who told him she had it coming up for sale.
“He actually bought the property that he had set his heart out to buy before even knowing it was for sale,” Yang said.
Seller Jo, who gave only her first name, said the home had been in the family for close to 30 years after she bought it from her sister. Jo now lives in Sydney and decided to sell the unit in order to buy in Sydney, but praised the community and neighbourhood near the beach.
“The campaign went really well,” she said. “There was obviously a lot of interest.”
Elsewhere, in Frankston, an 804-square-metre beachfront block of land is still available after passing in at auction.
The property at 22 Gould Street has only frames and a roof for now, but could become a dream home or new development.
Listed with a price guide of $2.7 million to $2.97 million, the home attracted a crowd of about 100 including many neighbours, Jellis Craig Chelsea listing agent Tanja Neven-Jones said.
A vendor bid of $2.7 million was placed, followed by another vendor bid of $2.8 million, then the home passed in. The reserve was $3 million.
It is now set to be listed with a fixed price of $3 million.
Neven-Jones was fielding inquiries post-auction on Saturday, mainly from local builders and developers but also from buyers hoping to build a dream home.
“People who live on the street understand how beautiful the street is and how rare the opportunity is for that land size,” she said.
A young first-home buyer couple paid $1.71 million for a renovated Coburg family home at auction on Saturday.
They beat one other active bidder for the three-bedroom house at 58 Donne Street, while another couple didn’t get an opportunity to raise their hands.
The Californian Bungalow was listed with a price guide of $1.55 million to $1.65 million, and proceedings began with a vendor bid at the bottom of the range.
A genuine bid of $1.56 million was placed, then it took a moment for the second party to enter the fray at $1.57 million.
The two traded $10,000 rises until the home sold to the first home buyers.
Nelson Alexander selling agent Carl Sacco declined to reveal the reserve.
“The market seems really good,” Sacco said. “It seems like people have got some confidence back without interest rates going up again. They are thinking, ‘this is it’ [for rates].”
Sacco said although buyers were still a little cautious, a sense of confidence had returned. Renovated properties in particular were performing well.
Elsewhere, an owner-occupier who was one of the earliest to inspect a Brunswick townhouse beat seven other active bidders for the keys, paying $1.07 million.
Eleven bidders registered for 3/230 Albert Street and eight raised their hands in a hot auction.
“It fricking flew,” Ray White Brunswick selling agent Matthew Schroeder said of the home, listed with a price guide of $850,000 to $930,000.
Bidding began at $860,000, and although the reserve price was set at $910,000, offers were so rapid there was no chance to call the home on the market until it reached $960,000.
A woman who had moved from interstate beat a mix of first home buyers, upsizers and an investor. “It performed way, way, way beyond our expectations,” Schroeder said.
One attraction was that the townhouse is not part of an owners’ corporation, while other drawcards included the layout with big bedrooms and the sought-after location in Brunswick, he said.
“It is becoming more common where properties are performing a bit beyond expectations. The market is very robust,” he said.
“The buyers and sellers are very much in agreement on where values are.”
Schroeder said buyers were feeling a bit more confident about their position, expecting interest rates would likely be stable this year or even a little lower.
The buyer of the Brunswick townhouse had been looking since May and liked the convenient location and the bright and airy feel of the property she will now call home.
But the buyer, who preferred not to give her name, said it had been difficult to find a place as there were few listed for sale.
“It is a crazy price to pay for it, but for me … it is an investment,” she said.
The vendor, who owned the townhouse for five years, said he was selling to upsize, noting there had been high demand for his property in sought-after Brunswick.
“It has become increasingly popular,” said the seller, who gave his name only as Adrian.
When asked about the prospect of buying back into the market, he said, “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tricky. Younger couples trying to buy their first home, trying to settle down and have a family, it is really tricky.”
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.