Canberra auctions: Overseas phone bidder buys Downer home for $740,000

Running through five suburbs, Antill Street is one of Canberra most recognisable addresses and on Wednesday night, the home at 69 Antill Street went under the hammer.

Luck was on the side of the Downer property, as Domain data recently revealed Wednesday auctions in the nation’s capital record the highest clearance rate.

While the home officially sits in Downer, it enjoys a prime location directly opposite Dickson town centre. It’s so close you can practically smell the famous laksa from Asian Noodle House.

The three-bedroom, two-storey duplex sits on an RZ3-zoned block and had recently been refreshed with a coat of paint and new carpet.

Independent Property Group Inner North & City auctioneer Mark Larmer kicked off proceedings.

“The owners have gone to great lengths to ensure they are not just handing over a basic property. They have spruced the place up so you don’t have to spend any money on it.”

“Long-term land value also comes with the terra firma, an RZ3 zoning gives you plenty of opportunities down the track.”

It sold for $740,000 on the night.

There were three registered bidders at the auction, but only two participated.

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Bidding was slow to get underway and started at $550,000. This was countered by a bid for $575,000, also slow off the mark.

However, from this point, the auction progressed smoothly in increments of $25,000 until the price reached $700,000, where the strides shortened to $10,000, and then $5000.

At $730,000, increments of $1000 were accepted and at $735,000 bidding was halted as one of the parties dropped out, with a phone bidder left as the sole party.

Mr Larmer conducted negotiations between the vendor and phone bidder. After a few minutes, the phone bidder increased the bid by $5000 and the home was declared on the market.

Independent Property Group Inner North & City listing agent Chris Uren said the buyer intends to use the home as an investment property.

“The buyer was bidding from London and the vendors were very happy with the result,” he said.

According to Domain Group data, Downer’s median house price is $846,500. Data also shows the inner north has the highest proportion of houses sold under the hammer in the ACT, at 49 per cent.

Mr Uren said he was feeling confident about the inner-northern market.

“We’re finding the inner-north market is excellent at the moment,” he said.

“People are putting their money closer to the city.”