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In numbers
- $2,721,000 – Renovated Malvern East three-bedroom house, sold under the hammer
- $2,171,000 – Alphington fixer-upper on 1142-square-metre-block, sold after auction
- $1,225,000 – Four-bedroom townhouse in Avondale Heights, sold after auction
Property listings
A young owner-occupier, represented by a professional bidder, beat four other parties with a final $1000 bid in a competitive auction on Saturday in Malvern East.
The renovated three-bedroom house at 24 Tennyson Street traded for $2,721,000 and soared $421,000 over its reserve price. The reserve was at the top end of its price guide of $2.1 to $2.3 million.
Jellis Craig Armadale partner Michael Armstrong said the renovations made by the previous vendors led to the strong result.
“They did a very clever renovation with very big spaces, natural light and high-quality features,” Armstrong said. “When you get that combination of things in a good spot, people are prepared to fight for it.”
Bidding for the house, set on 353 square metres, opened at $2.1 million. Armstrong said the five bidders used aggressive tactics, including multiple $50,000 raises.
When the auction reached $2.7 million, the eventual buyer, represented by their bidder, raised their hand for the first time. They participated in the final moments of the auction after watching the other would-be buyers compete.
Armstrong said the underbidders were left feeling frustrated after missing out. The house had broad appeal, and both young families and downsizers were bidding, he said.
“It’s hard to buy a good quality home at the moment, because you still have strong competition for these sorts of properties,” Armstrong said.
The Malvern East auction was one of 957 Melbourne homes scheduled for auction on Saturday, with numbers bouncing back after a quiet Melbourne Cup long weekend last week.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.2 per cent from 698 reported results, while 83 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate. A clearance rate of 60 per cent is considered a balanced market, and anything higher usually correlates with price growth.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver believes that vendors and buyers are demonstrating concerns about the impact of interest rate hikes on the market, after the cash rate was raised again last Tuesday.
“We’re going to see more impact on the economy from the higher interest rates. The slower economy would be bad news for property prices,” Oliver said. “If vendors are aware of that, then there’s more of a hurry to sell before the Christmas break comes.”
Oliver said the soft Melbourne market means some vendors are selling their properties below their reserve price.
In Alphington, an 1142-square-metre property at 5 Geneva Road sold for $2,171,000. The sale was $29,000 below its reserve price. On the property is a two-bedroom house in need of renovation, a garage and a shed.
The property was passed in at auction after only one bid at $2 million was made by a young family. Three other interested parties fell silent during the auction, Nelson Alexander Northcote auctioneer Michael Traikos said.
Traikos said the property had been sold as a deceased estate and it had been listed with a price guide of $2 million to $2.2 million.
“Interest rate rises, inflation and building costs are stopping people from potentially looking to build their dream homes at the moment,” said Traikos.
But Traikos said that the young family saw the potential in the property, despite some native trees at its rear that could limit a new build.
They made offers in negotiations after the auction with the vendor’s executor before settling on the sale price.
Meanwhile, in Avondale Heights, a newly built four-bedroom townhouse was bought by a young family for $1,225,000 after it was passed in at auction.
The sale of 41 Glencara Street failed to meet its $1.25 million reserve price. The house had a listed price range of $1.18 million to $1.29 million.
The auction started with a vendor bid of $1.18 million and the young family made a bid of $1.19 million during the auction.
But no other bids were made and the townhouse was passed in by Barry Plant partner Paul Filippone.
Filippone said he was surprised when a registered party who had shown strong interest did not make a bid, while another potential buyer had bought a different property the night before.
The young family who bought the townhouse had only seen the home on auction day. Filippone said it was rare to see people buy a property after seeing it only on auction day in the current market.
“If people see value, they participate and if they don’t see value, they don’t participate,” he said.
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