Canberra auctions: First-home buyers nab Scullin home for $836,000

Canberra’s property market is surging ahead, recording a sky-high 94 per cent auction clearance rate on Saturday.

There were 63 auctions scheduled in Canberra, and of the 60 reported results, 56 homes sold, two were withdrawn and two passed in.

A three-bedroom home in Scullin sold under the hammer for $836,000 to first-home buyers who have been on the hunt for six months.

The residence at 6 Parer Street attracted more than 100 buyers through the four-week auction campaign, selling agent Annabelle McInnes of Timothy Road said.

“It’s such a beautiful home and a lot of people were in it to win it,” she said.

Bidding for the property kicked off at $745,000 and increased in swift $5000 increments. It wasn’t long before auctioneer Richard Keeley of Apollo Auctions announced the home was on the market at $775,000.

At this point, three of the seven registered parties tried their luck at securing the property. The bidding continued in $5000 increments before shortening to mostly $1000 bids.

At $811,000 it came down to two parties vying for the property. The hammer eventually fell at $836,000 to a young first-home-buyer couple.

According to government records, the property last sold in 2018 for $645,000.

Ms McInnes described the atmosphere as competitive but “fabulous” for the sellers.

“It’s certainly a seller’s market at the moment, especially in this price bracket – we’re seeing quite a number of people searching for homes,” she said.

“We’re overwhelmed with the amount of people coming through and looking for a house.”

New owners Samuel and Nina, who gave only their first names, said this was their first try at securing a property at auction.

“Samuel’s been tracking the property market for the last three years but we’ve only been seriously looking for a house for the past six months,” Nina said.

“We already live in a rental property nearby, about 400 metres away from here, and loved the neighbourhood so we wanted to remain in this area.”

Aside from its location, the couple were drawn to the property’s 794-square-metre block of land and the expansive gardens at the front and back of the home.

With COVID restrictions on travel, Ms McInnes said she had seen a number of people who’d used their travel savings towards a house deposit. 

For Samuel and Nina, their new purchase was a testimony to their years of saving.

“We’re pretty frugal people. Buying a house was always the priority over a big overseas holiday,” Samuel said.

“We definitely found it a competitive marketplace with people using their travel money towards a house but we’re very blessed to have been able to walk away with the keys so soon into our house-hunting journey.”