Auction Watch: Fierce competition for Hackett house with potential

There was fierce competition for a modest house in Hackett on Saturday as apartment and townhouse owners sought to upsize in central Canberra.

Selling agent Theo Koutsikamanis​ of McGrath Estate Agents Dickson said the seven registered bidders competing for 23 Stanley Street were primarily second-home buyers looking to move into an established house.

A shortage of housing stock sparked competitive bidding for the two-bedroom brick house on a 766-square-metre block opposite parkland.

Six of the registered parties tussled for the property from an opening bid of $620,000. A slow start quickly transformed to an active auction.

It became a battle between two couples from the $767,000-mark: the opening bidders and a new party entering the fray.

Their desire to snap up the home shifted the price past the $800,000-mark. It sold to the second couple, from Watson, for $811,000.

Mr Koutsikamanis said the property’s two bedrooms left some prospective buyers out however, its location and readiness for a new owner to move straight in were drawcards.

He said the new buyers had inspected the house, which could be renovated or extended, six times.

23 Stanley Street, Hackett. Photo: Supplied

“You can move in without doing anything,” he said.

“A property opposite parkland or reserve is always going to attract more.”

Mr Koutsikamanis said limited stock continued to increase competition for houses, particularly in central areas.

“The closer you get to Civic, I think you are really going to get appreciation over the next three to four years,” he said. 

“Canberra is only going further out past Gungahlin and further out past Belconnen.”

The Hackett sale was among 78 scheduled auctions in Canberra on Saturday and contributed to a solid clearance rate of 78 per cent, according to Domain Group data.

The top-end of the market wasn’t short on sales either.

A four-bedroom house at 13 Norman Fisher Circuit in Bruce broke the street’s record at $1,080,000.

Selling agent Stephen Thompson of LJ Hooker Manuka said 17 registered parties pushed the price significantly over reserve, with 52 bids placed in total.

“The bidding started at $700,000,” he said.

“There were three to four people fighting from $900,000 to $1 million.”

South of Lake Burley Griffin a three-bedroom house at 109 Hopetoun Circuit, Yarralumla was snapped up for $1,450,000.

Berkely Residential principal Bill Lyristakis​ said there were eight registered bidders vying for the 913-square-metre block, with the auction heating up after a slow start.

See the entire list of auction results here.