Auction watch: A bumper weekend of auctions across Canberra

The sale of a Yarralumla townhouse was among more than 80 auctions scheduled across Canberra on Saturday. 

The surge in the number of houses listed for auction comes off the back of a much quieter Canberra Day long weekend, when just 18 properties went under the hammer.

A luxurious three-bedroom townhouse at 24B Bentham Street was among six Yarralumla homes auctioned on Saturday, contributing to an ACT clearance rate of 68 per cent, according to Domain Group data.

A crowd of about 100 people gathered to watch half a dozen committed registered bidders vye for the property, which sits on a separately-titled 450-square-metre block a stone’s throw away from the Yarralumla shops.

An opening bid of $1.4 million gradually crawled past the $1.6-million mark. The competition then began to heat up, with some quick bidding raising the price past $1.8 million.

After a pause in proceedings, the townhouse sold for $1.83 million under the hammer.

Selling agent Mario Sanfrancesco of Peter Blackshaw Real Estate Manuka said the townhouse had attracted a lot of interest, with more than 100 groups inspecting the home in the lead up to the auction.

“We anticipated we would have a lot of interest in this property, predominantly because of the design, the quality finishes and its proximity to the Yarralumla shops – it really has a bit of everything,” he said.

“It was a really good result, and fair, I’d say.”

The sale comes off the back of a big 12 months for the suburb.

Yarralumla’s suburb record was initially broken in June with the $3.95 million sale of 16 Brown Street, only to be smashed again five months later with the $5,475,000 sale of 12 Hunter Street in November.

Mr Sanfrancesco said the strong results had increased buyer confidence in the area.

Yarralumla’s location next to Lake Burley Griffin; a lack of through traffic; and a number of architecturally-designed properties were among the suburb’s drawcards.

“I think Yarralumla has somewhat been overlooked up until a couple of years ago and there’s no doubt confidence, off the back of some of those upper-end sales, has really drawn attention to the area,” he said.

Other big results in the suburb included Saturday’s top sale, with a property at 7 Drummond Row selling for $2,275,000 under the hammer via Belle Property Kingston. 

A house at 79 Schlich Street sold for $1,305,000 via One Agency Sandy Morris.

Mr Sanfrancesco said Saturday’s bumper auction schedule was largely due to agents and clients timing auctions around last week’s long weekend.

“I think, moving forward, we’ll see some good activity at all of the auctions and strong prices. There’s a reasonable shortage of properties. It will be a busy time ahead.”

See all of Saturday’s results here.