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A family who had lived overseas for the past 20 years snapped up a Hawthorn property for $5,725,000, even though they had seen it only half an hour before the auction on Saturday.
They were one of three bidders on the five-bedroom Victorian-style home at 61 Wattle Road, known as Morley.
All the bidders were looking to trade up. The property on 1172 square metres of land offered space to breathe, a swimming pool and an impressive wine cellar.
The two-storey home built in 1868, has a separate guest house and was described by selling agent Marshall White Boroondara’s James Tostevin as “comfortable but in need of some updating”.
“The house was in excellent condition, but people were saying the kitchen and bathrooms were a bit on the tired side,” Tosetvin said.
Bidding for the home opened on a vendor bid of $5.2 million, before a flurry of $25,000 bids followed.
The house was called on the market at $5.45 million, with more $25,000 offers taking it to its sale price, $225,000 above the top end of the price guide of $5 million to $5.5 million.
Tostevin said it was unusual to have a buyer turn up on the day and see the property just before an auction.
“It usually happens with properties being sold as development opportunities or investments, not these types of homes,” Tostevin said.
A lack of listings meant people were offering good money to buy properties on the market like Morley, he said.
The vendors, who bought the property in 2002, paid $1,362,500, records show. They are now looking to downsize.
Elsewhere, a renovated family home in a tightly held area of Ivanhoe has sold under the hammer for $3,025,000 at auction on Saturday.
The five-bedroom home on a 873-square-metre block at 24 Carn Avenue was fiercely contested by four bidders.
The price guide was $2.75 million to $2.95 million. The reserve price was within the price guide.
Bidding started at $2.7 million. By the $2.8 million range, only two of the four buyers were still competing for the auction. All four buyers were young families looking to move into the spacious family home.
“There is a lot going for it,” said Barry Plant Manningham auctioneer James Goulopoulos.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom home has a renovated interior and multiple living spaces across three floors. An entertainer’s deck on the first floor overlooks the garden and a pool.
“It has had a tasteful renovation to keep the charm of the period home, but also has the modern features,” Goulopoulos said.
The Ivanhoe auction was one of 887 scheduled across Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 66.1 per cent from 604 reported results, while 55 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Collingwood, a couple secured their retirement plan after purchasing a rare double storey three-bedroom home for $1,432,500 at auction.
The home at 18 Ballarat Street was being quoted at $1.32 to $1.37 million, but the property was passed in when bidding stopped at $1.42 million. Two bidders competed in front of a crowd of 50. In Victoria, it is legal for reserve prices to be set higher than the price guide.
After some negotiations between the highest bidder and the owner, a final sale price was reached.
“There’s not a lot of turnover with houses that come on the market in Collingwood,” said Luke Brizzi of McGrath Northcote.
The successful buyer plans to rent out their new property for a few years before eventually moving in to enjoy their retirement close to the city.
“The house was ready to move into, there’s nothing you needed to do, but you could add value to it through updating the kitchen and bathroom,” said Brizzi.
In Bentleigh East, the keys to a modern townhouse have been snatched up by a young couple for $1,433,000. The young couple beat three other bidders for 19B Northam Road.
The four bidders competed fiercely for the keys to the property. A vendor bid at the bottom of the price guide at $1.25 million started proceedings. The reserve was at the top of the guide at $1.35 million.
In a tactical auction, the last $30,000 of bids were mainly $1,000 increments. The successful buyers were ecstatic after recently missing out on other nearby properties.
“The campaign just came together at the end,” said Jellis Craig Bentleigh partner Kosta Mesaritis.
“That [sale price] is about as entry level as it gets from a townhouse point of view in Bentleigh East.”
In Gladstone Park, the original owner of a house has sold their four-bedroom home for $801,000. The vendor initially wanted to sell 75 Lenoak Street off market for $700,000 but was persuaded by their agent to go to auction.
Eight active bidders participated in the popular auction on Saturday. Bidding started at $650,000 and the group of buyers – most of the buyers were families – offered $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 increments.
The auction was brought forward by two weeks due to the demand from buyers. The home was built in 1978 and has been lived in by the same vendor since.
“She couldn’t believe how quickly it happened and how much more she got than what she expected,” said Ray White Gladstone Park auctioneer Phillip Mercieca.
“It was just immaculately kept. It just shows there is still demand for original homes.”
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said that the spring selling season could present some challenges for the Melbourne property market.
“We’re still seeing the flow through of higher interest rates to the market and I suspect that that could act as a constraint on buyers, but it could also drive an increase in distressed sales,” he said.
“The market has been able to recover somewhat from its lows earlier this year in price terms and clearances from a year ago.
“With listings picking up, the risk that distressed sales will also start to rise, and there are still high interest rates constraining demand, we could go through a more challenging period through September and October.”
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