Auction watch: Years of work pay off for Canberra family selling home

Years of renovations and small touches have paid off for a Canberra family who sold their Weston Creek house at auction on Saturday.

The McLaughlin family, including Garry and Leanne and their children Tara and Harris, have farewelled their home of more than 20 years at 52 Yiman Street in Waramanga after it sold for $680,000 under the hammer.

The three-bedroom house attracted 12 registered bidders with a lively contest for the property beginning with an opening bid of $580,000 – well above the suburb’s median house price of $559,250.

Bidding quickly climbed through the $600,000s with the hammer falling at $680,000, not long after the crowd was informed the registered parties were definitely playing for keeps.

The character-filled house has been extended, with living areas flowing onto a north-facing desk.

A stone-covered fireplace and bench tops made from a 200-year-old yellow box gumtree that had to be removed from the backyard are among the features.

Harcourts Kingston/Manuka selling agent Rhys Summergreene said the vendors were very pleased with the result, which was “well over reserve”.

He said the property had attracted a lot of interest, with families from Weston Creek, Woden and Tuggeranong’s northern suburbs making up the majority of registered bidders. A large Canberra family eventually bought the house.

Mr Summergreene said the house’s finer details packed a punch.

“Those small, little details really made it feel like a home,” he said. “It is lovely and warm and the finishes are top class.

“Waramanga has got good capital growth.”

Mr Summergreene said he expected spring to be a “bumper season” for Canberra’s property market with listings, including 52 Yiman Street, already attracting a high level of enquiry.

A number of sales across Canberra’s central suburbs cracked the million-dollar mark on Saturday, including 56 National Circuit in Forrest which sold for $2,980,000 through Luton Properties Manuka.

The property was designed in 1927 by Oakley & Parkes, the architects behind The Lodge, and extended in the late 1990s.

Other top sales included a luxury townhouse at 45 Cunningham Street in Kingston at $1,430,000 and a four-bedroom house at 26 Quiros Street in Red Hill at $1,285,000, both through Peter Blackshaw Real Estate Manuka.

A house at 32 Bamford Street in Hughes sold for $1,045,000 through Peter Blackshaw Woden and Weston Creek.

More to come.