Canberra auctions: Florey home sells for $1.29m, despite short auction campaign

A four-bedroom house in Florey sold under the hammer on Saturday morning for $1.29 million after attracting close to 70 groups during its short, two-week auction campaign.

Despite Canberra experiencing its first touch of the cold winter to come, more than 30 onlookers showed up to watch the auction unfold at 42 Challinor Crescent.

Selling agent Greg Amos of Irwin Property said the house was on the market for the first time since 1986.

“This is a tightly held suburb, everyone knows everyone here and, given it is an area where very few houses do go to market, we knew we’d have a lot of interested parties through it,” he said.

The eventual new homeowners, who were upsizing, have been looking for a property in Florey.

When auctioneer Michael Potter of Michael Potter Real Estate called for an opening offer of $1.1 million, the registered bidders were reluctant to raise their paddles.

It wasn’t until he reduced the starting bid to $1 million that one party took it up and a seamless flow of bids followed.

Three of the six registered bidders participated until, at $1.06 million, it came down to two parties. The stride shortened to $10,000 and $5000 bids and it was announced on the market at $1.24 million. The hammer eventually fell at $1.29 million.

“With the way the market has been so far, how the property was presented, we knew we’d get a good sale for both the seller and the buyer,” Mr Amos said. “We knew which buyers were going to register to bid today and knew roughly how much the home would sell for.”

Further south in the Tuggeranong region, a five-bedroom Kambah house sold for $960,000 at auction.

Selling agent Nader Ranjbar of Luton Properties Tuggeranong said more than 20 people attended the auction at 13 Dinnison Circuit, including nine registered bidders.

“The bidding started at $800,000 and increased in various $25,000 and $10,000 bids,” Mr Ranjbar said.

“Towards the end of the bidding process, it shortened to $1000 bids before the eventual buyer knocked all the other parties out with a strong $10,000 raise, which was all it took for the hammer to fall.”

Mr Ranjbar said that even though winter was just around the corner, a typically quieter period for auctions, buyer demand showed no signs of slowing down.

“We had eight parties today who missed out at the auction and I don’t think there’ll be giving up anytime soon,” he said. “That demand is still there, we just need more stock to support it.”