Carlton North terrace fetches $1.4 million at spirited auction that almost wasn’t
A renovated terrace in Carlton North sold for $1.4 million in a spirited auction on Saturday that almost wasn’t.
Two bidders fought it out for the stylish two-bedroom Victorian home at 606 Drummond Street, a pleasant surprise to the auctioneer who had been unsure if he would have one or two bidders on the day.
It was one of 690 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday, ahead of next week’s Reserve Bank interest rate decision. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 57.8 per cent from 519 reported results, while 59 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding was slow to start and the crowd of about two dozen spilled across the nature strip, hands firmly in pockets.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer Tom Roberts made a vendor bid of $1.3 million, the bottom end of the price guide, then received an offer of $1.31 million.
A second party entered the race, and the two groups traded a quick succession of $10,000 bids to reach $1.4 million, the top of the quoted range.
After a short pause, Roberts declared the home on the market and with no further bids, it sold to the second party to bid – an owner-occupier couple who had been clearest about their intention to turn up on the day.
He said the reserve was about $1.38 million to $1.4 million.
“[It’s a] pretty typical experience, I think the quoted prices are where things are at,” Roberts said.
He did not think the impact of interest rates had filtered through yet, and said the market was “very price-sensitive, but still good”.
“Vendors are selling and doing well and bringing things to the marketplace,” he said. “It’s about getting the pricing right.”
In Maribyrnong, a three-bedroom parkside home also sold in the vicinity of its price hopes, fetching $1.015 million. This was just above the top end of price guide of $900,000 to $990,000.
Most interested buyers were young families but a middle-aged couple won the competitive auction for 1 Nayook Lane, Biggin & Scott Maribyrnong’s Quentin Hinrichs said, beating three other parties.
It had a fluctuating reserve, but the vendors were hoping for about $1 million, he said.
“[The market is] certainly down from, way down from, where it was not long ago, price wise,” he said.
Not all homes sold under the hammer. A Brighton block with water views passed in on a vendor bid of $5 million.
The weatherboard house at 50 Esplanade was marketed as an opportunity for the buyer to build a dream home on the 903-square-metre parcel.
Kay & Burton Bayside Brighton’s Will Maxted said he was in negotiations with some parties post-auction, and his phone had not stopped pinging since, with potential buyers wanting to talk.
“They are just a bit gun shy to put their hands up, they want to negotiate afterwards,” he said.
A more affordable four-bedroom house in Frankston North soared above its reserve price, trading for $712,000 in front of a crowd of more than 90 onlookers.
An investor outbid another investor and two owner-occupiers for 5 Blackbutt Court, surpassing the reserve of $500,000 and price guide of $500,000 to $550,000.
Bidding began at the bottom of the price guide and went up in $10,000 increments, and cut back to $500 bids towards the end, OBrien Real Estate Frankston’s Mark Burke said.
He said it was on a large block of 837 square metres but not all homes could command a similar result in this market.
“I’m a bit more picky about what I auction but if you get the right property you can auction it,” he said.
“Buyers are looking for better value for money and better bang for their buck – it certainly has an effect on prices.“
In Glen Waverley, a three-bedroom villa unit at 1/743 High Street Road sold for $836,000.
An investor beat three other parties, pushing the price above the $800,000 reserve.
“It was not a bad auction, there was quite a few people here which was a bit of a surprise for us for a main road property,” Barry Plant Monash’s Tony Ievoli said.
“At some of the other properties we have auctioned in recent times, there are much fewer buyers and much less activity.“
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