Canberra auctions: House hunters compete for $1,015,000 Aranda house

Much like tulips at Floriade, neighbours are always a fixture at auctions.

At an Aranda auction on Saturday morning, the neighbours were out in full force to welcome the new owner of 16 Ambara Place.

One even donated honey from their own backyard as a gift to the starting bidders, replacing the typical chocolates.

Then, the new owner bought the property for $1,015,000 after a supercharged auction.

As soon as auctioneer Troy Reddick of Ray White Canberra opened proceedings a bidder eagerly lifted their paddle with an offer of $900,000.

The second bid, a rise of $10,000, was slower off the mark.

The pace picked up and the two bidders fought it out in increments of $10,000 and $5000 before a third party entered the fray at $950,000.

From this point, the auction moved along in mostly $2000 increments with another bidder entering at $990,000, just as another left. Two bidders fought it out to the end with Mr Reddick informing the crowd the house was on the market at its selling price.

The community turnout at the auction was just as good as the result for listing agent Andrew Lonsdale of Ray White Canberra.

“It’s a real joy to welcome someone into the community,” he said. “There is a real desire for people to get into Aranda and live here. It’s awesome.”

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Aranda is one of Canberra’s most tightly held suburbs, with records showing only 23 dwellings have transacted so far in 2019.

Mr Lonsdale said the market was “certainly heating up” and that a lower amount of homes for sale was resulting in keen buyers.

“There’s been a real shortage of supply so less stock [and] there are certainly good buyers coming through homes,” he said.

“Buyer numbers are still down but the number of people interested is really high.

“We’re pretty happy with how things are going. There’s a lot of stuff selling pre-auction and at auction.”

The Aranda property was one of 51 scheduled to go under the hammer across Canberra on Saturday. On the same Saturday last year 73 homes were auctioned.

A few suburbs away, a four-bedroom property in Dickson sold under the hammer for $980,000.

The house at 42 Marsden Street sits on an 816-square-metre block. There were two registered bidders for the property, but only one participated in the bidding, listing agent Michael Braddon of Peter Blackshaw Gungahlin said.

The first bid was for $925,000, and the bidder then increased their bid twice – first to $950,000 and then to the winning bid.

Records show the property last changed hands in 2015 for $753,000.