By Melissa Heagney-Bayliss
A young family has outbid two others for a three-bedroom house in Brunswick East, which sold for $1.79 million at auction on Saturday.
Bidding on the renovated and extended California Bungalow at 10 Lord Street started at $1.55 million, and soon passed the $1.65 million reserve, as the three young families competed for the keys.
Bidding rose in a mix of $20,000, $10,000 and $5000 increments, before a family upgrading from the inner city made the winning bid, said Nelson Alexander Brunswick’s Luke Sacco. The price guide was $1.55 million to $1.65 million
“We had very happy vendors and very happy buyers after the auction,” Sacco said. “The vendors were happy the home is going to another family.”
He said the property market was bouncing back, after a slow end to the year in 2023.
“It died off last year, but it is a lot busier at the moment,” Sacco said.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer James Pilliner during the Lord Street auction.Credit: Arsineh Houspian
It was one of 868 Melbourne homes scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 68.8 per cent from 660 reported results, while 72 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Williamstown, a young professional couple paid $1,296,000 for a cottage held by the same family since 1945.
They were among five buyers who competed for the two-bedroom home at 82 Thompson St.
Eight had registered to bid, but not all had the chance to make an offer, Ray White Williamstown principal agent Joanne Royston said.
Bidding for the property, which had a guide of $1 million to $1.1 million, opened at $975,000. It rose in $25,000 bids to $1.2 million, then slowed to $5000 and $1000 increments.
Royston said the buyers were locals, upgrading from an apartment to the house, which was neat but needed some work.
While there was certainly some competitive bidding at auction on Saturday, there was still a small amount of buyer hesitation, Royston said.
In Preston, a young couple who were the only bidders at the auction of a four-bedroom house, forked out $1.6 million to become its new owners, negotiating a deal after the property was passed in.
The couple opened the bidding for 245 Tyler Street at $1.51 million, the lower end of the $1.5 million to $1.6 million price guide.
Jellis Craig Northcote auctioneer Nigel Harry then called for further bids from the crowd, but was greeted with silence, so he paused the auction, before returning to make a vendor bid of $1.55 million.
That was then topped by a $1.56 million offer from the couple, at which the property was passed in. The home, which includes a balcony with city views, sold after a short negotiation – in which the couple increased their offer by $40,000.
Harry said the vendors, who had owned the property for around six years, watched the auction online from NSW. They had moved from Melbourne to regional NSW during the COVID lockdowns and now had plans to buy there.
Harry had been expecting a second bidder, but they did not turn up to the auction. Still, he said there were positive signs that the market was improving after slowing down late last year.
Inside 245 Tyler Street, Preston.Credit: Jellis Craig Northcote
“I think next weekend will be very telling with the big Super Saturday that’s happening [with more than 1000 auctions scheduled].”
In Flemington, a man bought a two-bedroom terrace which he now plans to share with his mother.
The property at 16 Farnham Street sold for $1,056,000, above the $900,000 to $990,000 price guide.
Nelson Alexander Flemington director Ryan Currie said four parties competed, starting bidding at $950,000. A quick succession of $10,000 offers then took the price to $990,000, when the property was called on the market.
Currie said the buyer was thrilled to make the winning bid. The underbidder was a first home buyer.
“He’s rapt. His mother wanted to move to the inner city for that café lifestyle and to be close to shops and things,” Currie said. “It was nice to have some good bidding – we’re definitely seeing a turning market because people have decided they’ll jump in and buy rather than waiting to see what happens.”
A first home buyer was the winning bidder on a two-bedroom apartment in Hawthorn which sold for $761,000, above the $640,000 to $680,000 guide.
Five bidders competed for the property at 3/498 Glenferrie Road, with the winning bidder’s father making offers on her behalf.
“The dad of the young girl who bought it, he was an ex-stock auctioneer and when he bid had his finger on his nose and would raise his finger, then look at the ground,” The Agency Victoria’s Luke Saville said. “It’s a really country stock bidding style.”
The auction started with an offer of $630,000, which was followed by a vendor bid of $640,000. The property was called on the market at $690,000.
The underbidder had first visited the apartment complex to look at a property that was up for rent. She then decided to have a go at buying instead, Saville said.
He agreed the market was doing well, saying open for inspections had been well attended over the past three weeks.
“I think what we’re seeing is that the pause in interest rate rises, and talk of a drop in the next 12 months has been enough to give people confidence to buy,” Saville said.