Canberra auctions: Franklin home attracts 14 registered bidders

With the imminent arrival of Canberra’s light rail network, residents in Franklin are set to be among the greatest beneficiaries of the service, so it’s unsurprising buyer interest in the suburb is high.

On Saturday, two properties in Franklin went under the hammer.

A three-bedroom home at 23 Joan Bradley Street strongly defied Canberra’s softening auction market.

LJ Hooker Gungahlin listing agent Antony Damiano described the auction as “amazing”, and said there were 14 registered bidders vying for the home.

“It was toe-to-toe between four registered bidders until the end,” he said.

Bidding for the property kicked off at $450,000 and moved in increments of $25,000 until the price reached $600,000. From there, increments ranged from $1000 to $5000 before the property eventually sold for $642,000.

Mr Damiano said the sale shows even in a softening market, sellers should not discredit auctions. He said about 60 per cent of the market was looking for properties in the $600,000 price range.

“There are a lot of buyers trying to capitalise on a property before the stamp duty abolition [for first-home buyers] comes into effect, because then every buyer and their dog will be looking,” he said.

These changes are set to come into effect from July 1, 2019.

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Three bidders registered for the auction of a four-bedroom home at 68 Gwen Meredith Loop. The modern home, on a 450-square-metre block, is opposite a nature reserve.

Bidding kicked off at $750,000 and moved in increments of $5000 until it reached $770,000. When no other bids were forthcoming, a vendor bid for $800,000 was placed. After a last push for more bids was unsuccessful, the house was passed in.

Professionals Canberra Southside listing agent Irena Simunec said the auction was “a reflection of the market at the moment”.

“Auctions aren’t clearing as high as they used to … we have a couple of interested parties who couldn’t attend the auction because they weren’t finance ready but we will be negotiating with them,” she said.

“People aren’t able to get the pre-approval and, with auctions being a legally binding contract, people are not prepared to do that without the finance behind them, and that’s what we are seeing through the auction.”

Despite the home passing in, Ms Simunec was optimistic the home would be sold in coming days.

“There are a couple of buyers at the moment, so we’ll have some negotiations and hopefully we’ll see a sold sticker shortly,” she said.

It is currently listed on Allhomes with a price guide of $865,000+.

Based on sales from 2018, Franklin’s median house price is $702,550.

Typically, auctions in the Gungahlin region do not perform as strongly as those in other Canberra regions. But February’s clearance rate of 50 per cent was almost on par with the wider Canberra result of 51 per cent.