A young family on the hunt for their forever home paid $1.9 million for a three-bedroom house in inner Melbourne’s Kensington post-auction on Saturday.
After two other expected bidders failed to turn up for the sale of 35 McConnell Street, the family were the sole bidders, but had to wait until after the auction to land the home.
One of the other expected bidders was a no-show and the other purchased a different property pre-auction.
Met with a reluctant crowd, Nelson Alexander auctioneer Jayson Watts placed a vendor bid of $1.75 million on the Kensington home. That bid was at the bottom end of the price guide of $1.75 million to $1.875 million.
The only bidder put forward an offer of $1,775,000. Watts conferred with the vendors and the property was passed in.
But after 15 minutes of negotiations, the sole bidders, who were upsizing from a smaller house in Kensington, agreed to pay an extra $125,000 to purchase the renovated double-fronted residence for the reserve price.
35 McConnell St Kensington sold for $1.9 million post-auction.Credit: Jason South
Watts said homes in Kensington rarely came up for sale and that buyers were willing to pay more to secure properties.
“It’s incredibly tightly held, and obviously the buyers were willing to negotiate a lot more fluidly today compared to maybe over the last two months. Buyers are sensing that we’ve seen the worst of the market,” he said.
“We’re now seeing a lot more buyers coming through, there’s a lot more buyers bidding, so that’s why these guys were willing to negotiate and lock it in because they fear entering into a rising market soon.”
The property was one of 993 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 63.8 per cent from 710 reported results, while 77 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In neighbouring Ascot Vale, former Carlton footballer Dennis Armfield and wife Abby sold their renovated three-bedroom home at auction to an investor from NSW for $1,165,000.
Bidding for 59 Middle Street started with a vendor bid of $1 million. A couple chasing their first home put forward a $20,000 rise before the ultimate buyer matched their bid.
Bidding slowed to $10,000 and then $1000 increments once the reserve price of $1.15 million was reached. A buyer’s advocate, who was bidding on behalf of the NSW investor, put forward a final $1000 rise to purchase the property.
McDonald Upton listing agent Joe Zucco said Armfield, who lived in the single-fronted Ascot Vale residence for 12 years before moving to Bacchus Marsh, was thrilled with the result.
Zucco said that with more stock coming onto the market this spring, buyers had been selective when it came to making offers on property.
Meanwhile, in the prestige suburb of Deepdene, a local family paid $3,766,000 at auction for a three-bedroom home they plan to demolish, beating out five other bidders in a competitive sell-off.
Bidding for 11 Campbell Road started with a $3.2 million offer placed by a seven-year-old girl, whose nearby parents gave her the go-ahead.
“Because she had her parents with her, I decided to accept the bid,” Kay and Burton auctioneer Scott Patterson said.
Six parties placed bids for 11 Campbell Road, Deepdene, which sold for $3.776 million at auction on Saturday. Credit: Kay and Burton
Patterson then placed a vendor bid of $3.25 million and a second bidder entered the race with a $50,000 rise.
A competitive auction followed between six parties, all families with plans to knock down the 1980s residence and build luxury homes.
The home, listed with a price guide of $3.2 million to $3.5 million, was declared on the market at $3.48 million and the bidding escalated.
Patterson said he counted more than 100 bids throughout the auction, with the ultimate buyer placing just two, including the final bid of $1000 which secured him the property.
11 Campbell Road, Deepdene sold for $3.776 million at auction on Saturday. Credit: Kay and Burton
With an 18.2-metre frontage and a prime location near private schools, Patterson said there was such strong interest from buyers that he brought the auction forward by two weeks.
“The property was on the market for a total of 15 days, and so we decided to pull the trigger on an auction with only four days’ notice,” he said.
“That was the big drawcard for buyers, that it had a wide frontage, and they can build a luxury home with very good street presence.”
In Carlton North, a first home buyer nabbed the keys to a three-bedroom fixer-upper for $1.4 million during post-auction negotiations.
The buyer offered the sole bid of $1.36 million for 580 Station Street and the property was passed in.
She offered an extra $40,000 during negotiations and bought the home for below its $1.43 million reserve.
The semi-detached home was listed with a price guide of $1.4 million to $1.45 million.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer James Pilliner said the buyer was renting in a neighbouring suburb and that buying in Carlton North was her first preference.
Pilliner said the property was previously being rented out and was priced lower because it needed a lot of work.