Auction watch: A new suburb record for Forde

An auction in Forde has cracked the suburb’s record by $130,000.

Saturday’s wet weather wasn’t enough to dampen the sale of 3 Arndt Street, which sold for a record $1.4 million under the hammer.

About 60 people, including eight registered bidders, gathered inside the two-storey, five-bedroom house to watch the auction.

The property features multiple, spacious living areas, an outdoor kitchen and an in-ground pool.

Half the registered parties tussled for the house from an opening bid of $1.15 million. The bids quickly climbed past the $1.3 million-mark.

A local couple who had been searching for a home for some time eventually snapped up 3 Arndt Street for $1.4 million.

It tops a previous record of $1.27 million, which was set in March 2016 with the sale of 10 Eric Wright Street.

Selling agent Duncan Macdonald of Luton Properties Weston Creek said Saturday’s result was “considerably above reserve”.

“There were some strong bidders,” he said. “One of them had missed out on a property up the road last weekend.”

Mr Macdonald said property seekers were attracted to the quality of houses in the Gungahlin suburb, with 115 groups looking through 3 Arndt Street in the lead up to the auction.

He expected the demand to continue throughout autumn.

Forde is the second suburb to set a new sales record this week. Downer had its first million-dollar sale on Thursday with the auction of 96 Melba Place.

The weekend’s auction clearance rate of 68 per cent follows last weekend’s 77 per cent clearance rate, according to Domain Group data.

Read the full results here.