Melbourne auctions: 1960s Spotswood home, heritage CBD apartment soar above reserves
A 1960s brick home in Spotswood, in Melbourne’s inner west, sold under the hammer for $1.2 million on Saturday – $250,000 above the vendors’ advertised reserve of $950,000.
Bidding for the three-bedroom home at 18 Robert Street started at $900,000 but quickly passed the reserve two bids later.
It was one of 1097 auctions scheduled across Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 74 per cent from 887 reported results.
While 10 parties had registered to bid at the auction, listing agent Peter Gindy from Ray White Spotswood said only five bidders got the opportunity to raise their hand, given it flew above the reserve so quickly.
A mix of downsizers, young families and investors were keen to win the keys to the spacious home, which was being sold for only the second time since it was built in 1967.
The successful bidder was an investor from Fitzroy, who saw the potential for further capital growth in the home, just around the corner from Spotswood Village’s much-loved cafe strip, along Hudsons Road.
He plans to rent out the home.
“We had a huge amount of interest in this property, with 150 groups coming through, and while we had a couple of locals bidding today, the vast majority were from the other side of the bridge,” Mr Gindy said.
“They’re finally discovering how good Spotswood is.”
The vendors, Bruce and Sascha Sinclair, bought the home 10 years ago, subdivided the large property and have just finished building a second house behind it. They said that while they saw the potential in Spotswood a decade ago, it is still very much a “hidden gem”.
Mr Sinclair said when they first moved to the area from Port Melbourne, there were no fancy pubs, wine bars or cafes, but despite its recent gentrification, “there’s still a lot of potential to be realised over here.”
The couple, who are planning to move to the Sunshine Coast, will keep their second, recently-completed, Spotswood home as an investment property.
“We think there’s still a lot of growth here; there’s just so much going for it,” said Mr Sinclair, who added that COVID, and a shift to remote working, meant they had brought forward their plans to move north by a few years.
“We’ve had our eye on the Sunshine Coast for a few years now, and I guess COVID taught us that it doesn’t matter if we’re working from our home in Spotswood or our home on the Sunshine Coast, so here we are,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Melbourne’s CBD, a two-bedroom apartment in the iconic Majorca Building in Flinders Lane sold for $110,000 above the reserve on Saturday morning.
The unique city apartment at 303/258 Flinders Lane was listed with a price guide of $790,000 to $820,000 but sold under the hammer for $960,000, following competitive bidding by two interested parties.
The Majorca Building, built in the late 1920s, was converted into apartments in the early 1990s as part of the City of Melbourne’s Postcode 3000 initiative to convert former office towers and rag trade buildings into apartments and significantly increase the number of city residences.
As part of the conversion, every effort was made to maintain the history and uniqueness of the iconic building, including high ceilings, jarrah floors, and two private Juliet balconies.
Listing agent, Scott McElroy from Belle Property Carlton, who showed more than 80 groups through the apartment during the sales campaign, said the strong result goes to show that it’s not all grim news for Melbourne’s CBD apartment market, which has seen vacancy rates soar and median unit prices plummet.
“The city has been bashed around a bit, but this is a good news story,” he said.
“And I think it underpins the fact that apartments in boutique, heritage buildings that suit the owner-occupier are still doing very well in the city.
“This is a unique apartment in a smaller building that is a little bit quirky. People are very fond of the Majorca Building, and we had a lot of interest, including a couple of other bidders who didn’t even get the chance to put up their hand today.”
The successful bidder was a recent lifestyle-changer who had moved out of the city but was looking for a “bolt hole in Melbourne that wasn’t in a big high-rise.”
Mr McElroy said boutique apartments in the CBD were a popular option for many people who had bought homes in the country or along the Mornington Peninsula and were looking for a city base for occasional work or pleasure.
“We’re also seeing an increasing number of buyers who are looking at longer-term opportunities, who want something they can use themselves but also let as an Airbnb in the longer term,” he said.
“So, the minute we get something unique that’s in a heritage building or has a warehouse feel, it does really well.”
Mr McElroy said that with many commercial offices sitting empty due to an increase in remote working, he would like to see the City of Melbourne refocus their attention on “residential and lifestyle offerings” in the city.
“Maybe it’s time to revisit the Postcode 3000 initiative and try to attract more owner-occupiers and more community as a way to enliven the city again,” he said.
In Carnegie, in Melbourne’s south-east, a 1923-square-metre estate, with a six-bedroom family home, a separate three-room office building, a large workshop, two sheds and a 15-metre solar heated pool, sold at auction for $3.75 million.
Five bidders – all families seeking a new family home – pushed the selling price for the sprawling property at 21 Blackwood Street, $450,000 above the $3.3 million reserve.
Listing agent Josh Hommelhoff from Ray White Carnegie said the home had attracted an enormous amount of interest given the size of the property.
Boasting multiple living areas, a huge backyard with landscaped gardens, as well as a separate office with a kitchenette and bathroom, Mr Hommelhoff said it was the “perfect post-pandemic property”.
“The vendors have owned the home for 27 years and raised a family there, and so their kids are all doing their own thing now. They felt it was time to sell the family home,” he said.
“All our bidders today, including the successful buyers were families, so the vendors were thrilled that it is going to another family.”
In Northcote, in Melbourne’s inner north, a two-bedroom home on the market for the first time in 50 years sold for $1,160,000 – just above the price guide of $1,050,000 to $1,150,000.
Two bidders raised their hand during the fast-paced auction with an owner-occupier, eventually winning the keys to the unrenovated, free-standing home at 45 Beavers Road.
Listing agent Matthew Akritidis from Nelson Alexander Northcote said that even though winter was fast approaching – typically a quieter period for auctions in Melbourne – buyer demand showed no signs of slowing.
“There are still a lot of buyers out there. Definitely here in Northcote, anyway,” he said.
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