Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Property listings
An impressive five-bedroom home in Balwyn has blown away its reserve by $620,000 to sell for $3.62 million at auction on Saturday.
Three bidders competed in front of a crowd of 150 for the keys to 19 Eyre Street.
A family with two young children won the keys and will be able to move straight into the home because of its modern finishes. It is spread across three levels and is surrounded by a designer garden. The home has several living spaces and boasts a 500-bottle wine cellar.
The previous vendors had raised their five children in the family home in the 20 years they lived there and are now looking to downsize.
The rapid-fire auction opened with a bid of $3.3 million. It jumped quickly to $3.6 million due to bids of $100,000 increments. Two $10,000 bids were made from $3.6 million to the property’s final sale price.
Kay & Burton Boroondara auctioneer Mark Sproule said that the Balwyn sale indicated buyers were looking for “fully renovated family homes with no renovation or upgrading required.”
“People just want something done, and they don’t want to go through the time delay in the process of building,” he said.
The auction was one of 663 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 68.3 per cent from 486 reported results, while 40 auctions were withdrawn.
Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Ivanhoe, a young couple will plan for future updates to their new four-bedroom home after buying 40 St Elmo Road for $2.3 million.
Buyers were not keen to start proceedings in a slow auction, but the final sale exceeded the reserve price by $75,000. The price guide was quoted at $2.1 million to $2.25 million.
Two vendor bids were placed to begin proceedings while a healthy crowd of 75 people observed. The eventual successful buyer of the home made a bid at $2.14 million. After a break in proceedings, the young couple faced some competition from another bidder, and together they lifted the auction to the sale price in $20,000 increments.
The previous vendors had divided the block and built a new separate property at its rear. But the original house has maintained its character and has had some renovations. The young couple have plans to add their own extensions to the property in the future.
“Buyers just loved the sense of style of the home,” said Miles Real Estate Ivanhoe auctioneer Mark Britt. “It was really at the upper echelon of what you can get on this size of land.
“It just shows that the quality stuff is still selling well.”
In Kensington, a young first home buyer couple bought a three-bedroom, Federation-style home for $1,515,000, negotiating a price after it passed in at auction.
The couple were the only bidders for 5 Percy Street, with another couple interested, but they opted not to raise their hands. The three-bedroom home has charming features and has an expansive backyard that provides opportunity for further renovations.
The auction opened with a vendor bid of $1.45 million – the bottom of the advertised range of $1.45 million to $1.525 million – and the first home buyers made a $1.475 million bid.
Despite trying to convince the buyers to make another bid, they remained quiet, with Nelson Alexander Flemington auctioneer Jayson Watts passing in the property. A short negotiation was held, and the young couple made an offer too good to refuse.
Watts said some buyers were price sensitive, but the lack of stock, especially renovated family homes, was keeping them searching.
“Some buyers have been looking for two or three years, and they’re incredibly frustrated by it. They’re now being aggressive in the first week of a campaign for a turnkey home,” he said.
“Renovated homes are spending seven or 14 days on the market before selling, because there are such limited opportunities.”
LJ Hooker head of research Matthew Tiller said that the auction results from Saturday demonstrated an improving Melbourne property market.
“There’s a little bit more confidence in the market, given the Reserve Bank of Australia has now held interest rates for the second month in a row,” said Tiller.
“Higher price growth, strong auction clearance rates, it’s just given the sellers a little bit more confidence to list their property.”
Most Viewed in Property
Source: Read Full Article