Bold bidding strategies on show at record-breaking auction in Albion

Two buyers’ advocates bidding on behalf of the one family have secured a win for their clients in a dramatic auction in Melbourne’s west. 

It was one of 1446 properties scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group had recorded a clearance rate of 66 per cent from 1063 reported results.

Click here for Saturday’s auction results.
Click here for the Market Snapshot.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom Albion house attracted three bidders when it went under the hammer on Saturday afternoon but, in a bizarre twist, two bidders were working together. 

More than 100 onlookers were stunned when the auction opened with a knock-out bid of $900,000, given the house had been advertised with a price guide of $770,000 to $820,000.  

Auctioneer Marcus Fregonese, of Hocking Stuart Sunshine, immediately declared 66 Adelaide Street on the market. “Ladies and gentlemen, that is how you buy real estate,” he told the crowd. “This could very well be one of the shortest auctions.” 

But a second party then entered the fray. A young couple who had been priced out of neighbouring Sunshine placed a bid of $901,000.

When bidding reached $905,000 the first bidder pulled out, shaking her head. 

That’s when another woman, standing on the other side of the street, stepped in and went head to head with the young couple. 

While the young couple were bidding in $500 and $1000 rises, their opponent only bid in $5000 increments. The bidding was slow but steady — $935,000 was countered by $935,500, followed by $940,000, and then $940,500.

Back and forth it went until the hammer finally fell at $965,000 — $150,000 above reserve and a record price for a family home in Albion. 

Only after the auction, it emerged that the first and third bidders were both buyers’ advocates from the same business working on behalf of a local family looking to upsize. 

Mr Fregonese said it was an unusual auction strategy, but it had worked for the buyers.  

He said the opening bid of $900,000 had succeeded in knocking out a lot of competition. 

“We had over 100 groups through. They knew there was a lot of interest so they’ve knocked out their competition early on,” he said. “There was probably half a dozen people who didn’t even get a chance to bid.” 

The vendors, Rebecca and Nathan Spiteri, said the auction had exceeded their expectations. 

The couple bought the home 15 years ago for $250,500. Over the years, they extended, renovated and landscaped the property.

Ms Spiteri said the demographics of the suburb had changed in recent years.

“There are more middle-class families moving in,” she said, adding there used to be more older retirees in the area. 

The mother of two said she was surprised by the local property market in Albion. 

“The market has moved so much even since we put it on the market six weeks ago. Prices just keep going up and up,” she said. 

She said the family was only moving so their son, who has autism, could access a particular school. 

Mr Fregonese said Albion was tracking toward a $1 million house sale. “It’ll get there next year,” he said. 

Earlier in the day, a three-bedroom Victorian terrace in Albert Park sold for $1.71 million, $110,000 above reserve. 

The investor who purchased 47 Greig Street had only seen it for the first time on Saturday, Marshall White selling agent Nicholas Hoo said. The buyer outbid two other bidders, another investor and an owner occupier.