Canberra auctions: Agents take advantage of buyer demand with short campaigns

Canberra agents are taking advantage of high buyer demand by holding shorter-than-usual auction campaigns, and their efforts have proven successful after houses in Waramanga and Florey sold under the hammer on Saturday morning.

Auction campaigns typically run for four weeks but for Sean Rogers of Blackshaw Woden, Weston Creek & Molonglo, that seemed unnecessary in this climate.

Mr Rogers sold a four-bedroom house at 19 Adinda Street, Waramanga on Saturday morning in front of a dozen people for $895,000. The house was on the market for three weeks.

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Bidding for the unassuming property kicked off at $730,000 and increased in $20,000 and $10,000 increments until it reached $880,000, thanks to three of the five registered bidders.

From here, one bidder – who hadn’t participated – placed their paddle on the floor and walked away while the remaining parties fought it out until the hammer fell.

“If this house had sold 12 months ago, it would’ve gone for $750,000,” Mr Rogers said.

“There’s no use prolonging an auction campaign as we had in the past because there are plenty of buyers who are all ready to go, competing for a home and pushing prices up.”

With record-low interest rates and a shortage of supply, buyers want to make a purchase now, afraid that house prices will continue to rise, Mr Rogers added.

The new owners of 19 Adinda Street had been on the hunt for a new property for the past 12 months.

“I’ve seen them at six open homes in the past year. They’ve been looking to upsize for a long time, so it’s good to see they’ve managed to walk away with the keys,” he said.

Elsewhere, a two-bedroom townhouse in Florey sold under the hammer for $682,000 to first-home buyers. Agents also held a three-week auction campaign for the property.

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Selling agent Amy Wilson of Belle Property Canberra said bidding for 17 Camfield Place started at $500,000 and quickly rose to $682,000 thanks to seven of the 16 registered bidders.

“We had a great turnout at auction, and bidding was very strong and competitive between the active parties,” Ms Wilson said.

The auction campaign garnered a lot of interest from downsizers, first-home buyers and a handful of investors, with the keys eventually going to first-home buyers.

“Buyers are pouncing on houses for sale because there aren’t many available right now,” Ms Wilson said.

“I don’t see any indication of the market slowing down anytime soon and think these three-week auction campaigns will become the new norm.”