Canberra auctions: Wanniassa house sells under the hammer for $861k

On Saturday morning Canberra experienced its first touch of the cold winter to come, but that didn’t deter bidders and onlookers alike from showing up at auctions.

A four-bedroom house in Wanniassa was one auction that attracted huge interest. With the downpour from the early hours settled, a large crowd of about 70 people gathered for the proceedings.

Many neighbours came to watch the auction of the house at 6 Harbison Crescent. One of the neighbours remarked it was a street people never leave, where everybody knows everyone.

There were seven registered bidders among the crowd.

The first bid of $705,000 was quick off the mark, as was the counter bid of $715,000. Another incremental bid of $10,000 was made before a new ambitious bidder brought the price to $815,000.

The starting bidders were undeterred and quickly countered with an offer of $825,000. The new bidders then tried to shorten the stride to $1000, but auctioneer Christopher Farmer would not accept the bid.

From this point the auction stalled, but after a brief moment the new bidders relented and placed a bid for $830,000. The starting bidders responded with $835,000. There were then seven incremental bids of $1000, and a bid of $3000 to make it $845,000.

Once they reached $850,000 the house was declared on the market, and a new bidder entered the competition with a bid for $855,000. From there, three increments of $1000, $4000 and $1000 were made, bringing the price to $861,000 in the starting bidders’ favour.

Mr Farmer then went to call the property away, and just as the hammer fell the underbidders tried to make another bid but were too late.

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Ray White Queanbeyan listing agent Brad O’Mara said there was a lot of interest from young families, with a total of 140 people inspecting the property throughout the campaign.

“We had strong interest from the start with 55 people through the very first open so we were expecting a good turnout,” he said.

“I think Wanniassa Hills is a great area and it’s very well sought after … there were a lot of families who had children or babies on the way so it is an up-and-coming one for families.”

Mr O’Mara said he was forthright when giving buyers the price guide of $800,000 to $850,000.

“You have to be honest with buyers around price guides. We are finding buyers are frustrated that too many agents are giving too big a range,“ he said.

“I don’t think it is fair for the buyers so we have been honest throughout the campaign – otherwise there would have been a lot more registrations. But the registrations we got were all in the range the owners were expecting.” 

Elsewhere, the auction of a three-bedroom house in Kaleen attracted a similar level of interest.

LJ Hooker Dickson listing agent Stephen Bunday said there were six registered bidders among the 75-odd crowd at the auction for 13 Neales Street, and there was “good momentum” throughout the auction.

Bidding for the property kicked off at $680,000 and moved in increments of $10,000 until the price reached $730,000. From there, the stride shortened to $5000, before it eventually sold for $785,000.

Mr Bunday said the market was in an “upside-down world” at the moment, with outer suburbs attracting greater levels of interest than inner areas.

“Generally the inner areas are first to pick up capital growth-wise, but this time around they are first to slow down as well,” he said.

“It’s an interesting time at the moment for Canberra. It’s a perfect storm with the upcoming election and Canberrans are careful around this time, also the banking royal commission making banks reluctant to lend and the media storm that’s come out of the Sydney and Melbourne markets.”

The two auctions are an anomaly in Canberra’s current market, where only about 50 per cent of houses are selling under auction conditions – with agents saying it is typical to have only one or two bidders at an auction.