A four-bedroom, St Kilda East home positioned in a vibrant pocket just off Chapel Street failed to sell at auction on Saturday.
The home at 3 Queen Street was listed with a price range of $1.65 million to $1.75 million.
The home, set over two levels with brightly coloured features, was marketed as “blending timeless deco charm with sleek modern design”.
Listing agent Claudio Perruzza from Biggin Scott St Kilda/Elwood said the home was a “decent property and good value”.
“It has all the requirements of inner-city living – multiple living areas, parking, and it’s in a good spot,” Perruzza said.
Despite this, he said that the auction “didn’t get off the ground”.
“There was some interest prior to the auction and one registered bidder, but they didn’t come,” he said.
In the hours after the auction, other interested parties – two families and a single person – inspected the property.
Perruzza said he was seeing an increasing number of properties selling through private sale rather than at auction.
“Sales are being made, but auctions are very hit and miss,” he said.
A nearby home, 4 Maryville Street in Ripponlea, also failed to secure any bids at auction.
Listed with a price range of $2.875 million to $3.15 million, the four-bedroom, renovated home is located in the coveted Brunning estate.
“It is a tightly held suburb, so it’s not very often you get the opportunity to buy a block this big,” said lead agent Rachael O’Connor from McGrath Estate Agents St Kilda.
While one registered bidder was at the auction, O’Connor said they didn’t make a bid and declined to negotiate privately afterwards.
O’Connor had been hopeful that more stock would come onto the market in the area after the federal election, but that has not happened.
“It’s one of the lowest levels of quality stock I’ve seen,” she said.
The two homes were among 1417 scheduled auctions across Melbourne over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 70.3 per cent from 1048 reported results, while 105 auctions were withdrawn.
Separate figures from Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, found Melbourne home values rose 0.4 per cent in May.
Louis Christopher, the general manager and head of research at SQM, cautioned against hastily interpreting the week’s auction results, as they were affected by a surge in auction volume due to coming King’s Birthday long weekend.
“The amount of auction stock substantially increased from last week; it’s in excess of 30 per cent since,” he said.
“Long weekends are usually quiet on the auction front, and if sellers realise that their auction date falls on a long weekend, they often bring the date forward, which is why we see this spike.”
In Chelsea, a 1920s period weatherboard home sold $255,000 over the reserve, for $1.505 million.
The home at 32 Catherine Street had a price guide of $1.18 million to $1.22 million, with a reserve of $1.25 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Lead agent Ruben Gueli from Ray White Chelsea, said the result “eclipsed expectations”.
There were 10 registered bidders, six of whom were active in the auction.
“The proceedings kicked off with a bang,” Gueli said.
“The opening bid came in $110,000 above the top of the price range. This shocked everyone and really set the tone for the rest of the competitive auction.”
The auction finale was a tussle between two couples who were drawn to the beachside location and quality renovation.
“They were going bid for bid, but it was ultimately sold to a young couple starting a family,” Gueli said.
The sellers had owned the property for 10 years, one of whom was Ray White Judd White director Andrew Dimashki.
In Footscray, a three-bedroom period home passed in at auction but sold in private negotiation for $865,000 afterwards.
The home at 68 Essex Street was listed with a price guide of $800,000 to its reserve price of $870,000.
The double-fronted period home “will need work in time”, said lead agent Huss Saad from Village Real Estate Footscray. But it “had a good layout and location” and was a “good entry-level inner-west home”.
Proceedings began with a $835,000 bid by the sole bidder, but “without any other bidders to compete against, it failed to progress”, Saad said.
“It was a good result in the end, it was sold to a young couple who had missed out on three other house sales earlier that week, including a house down the road, so they were relieved and very happy.”
He said more and more people considered Footscray a promising market.
“There’s a lot to love about Footscray – the nightlife, cafes and its proximity to the city,” Saad said.