Canberra auctions: Downer home sells for almost $200,000 above reserve

A four-bedroom house in Downer was snapped up at auction for almost $200,000 above reserve on Saturday morning after a fierce bidding war between five parties pushed the price to $1.31 million.

A crowd of 50 people gathered in the backyard of 17 Padbury Place to watch the house go under the hammer.

The first bid of $1 million was quick off the mark, before it was countered with a $1.025 million bid soon after. Two parties battled it out with proceedings moving in increments of $25,000 until the price reached $1.2 million.

A $20,000 rise took the price to $1.22 million, which saw the opening bidder declare they were out. At this point a new entrant made a $1.23 million offer, defeating the previous party who announced he couldn’t bid any higher.

After a brief moment, another entrant replied with a $20,000 increase. The two parties sparred in increments of $15,000 and $10,000 until the price reached $1.3 million which brought the bidding to a halt.

At the last moment, a fifth entrant made an effort to take it all with a $1000 raise. But the bidder just before last did not hesitate when auctioneer Frank Walmsley encouraged her to raise the price by $9000.

With no other forthcoming bids, the hammer fell at $1.31 million.

The reserve price was $1.125 million, meaning the home sold for $185,000 more than hoped.

Listing agent Symon Badenoch of Badenoch Real Estate attributed the sale to the presentation of the house.

“The fact that the house was presented very well, as well as the the owners doing a fantastic job on the home, improved the atmosphere of the auction and because of that, it encouraged bidders to bid strongly,” Badenoch said.

“We ended up having 80 groups through and 12 contracts issued through the campaign.”

The new buyers were a family looking to get into Canberra’s inner north area.

A sale at this price means the residence has taken the title of fifth highest-selling property in the suburb. The highest sale was at 42 Durack Street which sold for $1.55 million last year. 

Elsewhere, a two-bedroom townhouse in Mawson sold under the hammer for $794,000. 

According to listing agent Steve Whitelock of Belle Property Kingston, the auction at 10 Rymill Place moved at a swift and smooth pace with nine registered bidders on the day.

“It was a cracking auction with bidding starting in the $600,000s range. It quickly progressed to the $700,000 range, culminating in the $794,000 end price with five people participating in the auction,” he said.

“We had 120 buyer inspections throughout the campaign and there was a lot of interest because it was a Roger Pegrum-designed townhouse.”

Whitelock noted that Pegrum himself, who built the townhouse in 1970, came through to view his handiwork.

The vendors sold after buying a cottage in Burradoo in the Southern Highlands, he said, while the new buyers were a young couple and first-home buyers.