Canberra auctions: First-home buyers snap up Nicholls home for $838,000

A touch of winter didn’t deter the crowd at a Nicholls auction as more than a dozen onlookers gathered to watch a three-bedroom home sell for $838,000.

The property at 22 Rosella Street, which sits on 476 square metres of land, brought in three registered bidders, two of whom participated in the auction.

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Bidding for the property started at $750,000, which was countered by a $780,000 offer. The two parties went back and forth, with the price increasing in $10,000 and $5000 increments.

When the price reached $825,000, the stride shortened to $1000 bids. At $836,000, bidding hit a lull in favour of the opening bidder but, after a few moments, they increased their offer to $838,000.

With no further bids, auctioneer Hugh Rainger dropped the hammer.

Selling agent Kris Hellier of Stone Gungahlin said the sale came after a shorter-than-usual auction campaign of three weeks.

“We were up against the clock,” he said. “The owners were recently accepted at the Grove [retirement village] so we were arranging everything in a week and successfully reached an unconditional offer with three bidders.

“This [sale timeline] is resemblant of what things were like pre-COVID. We got accustomed during the pandemic to having two-week and, in some cases, one-week campaigns because buyers had FOMO. 

“But right now, buyers are a little more cautious with what’s going on with interest rates, and those who can are buying.”

The eventual buyers were a young family and first-home buyers, Hellier added.

Elsewhere, the auction of a two-bedroom townhouse at 5/1 Calaby Street, Coombs, was brought forward by a week to cater for the demand, selling agent Alysia Walsh of VERV Property said.

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“We had more than 70 inspections for the property and a number of repeat inspections too,” she said.

An opening bid of $680,000 started the proceedings and the price increased by $10,000 before shortening to $5000 strides. Eventually, it sold for $715,000.

“It was a nice and quick auction … I had a feeling we would sell around the $710,000 mark and to get an extra $5000 was great for our sellers,” Walsh said.

“Our sellers bought this home off the plan in 2020 and are ready to upsize now.”

Going into winter, Walsh said the market would be hit-and-miss.

“You can’t pinpoint what will and won’t sell in this market but we’ve had some fantastic sales recently, including a home in Campbell for $3 million, which is huge in this market,” she said.

“Throughout winter, it drops back naturally but I think the buyers who need to buy will buy, and sellers will need to sell.”

Hellier added that, with Canberra’s falling clearance rates, “we might see lower stock heading to winter but that could also strengthen clearance rates with demand”.

“We sold four prior to auction … this is the only one we’ve had to call so far and it’s been a solid sale and a good insight into what the next few months may bring,” he said.