Canberra auctions: Gungahlin home sells for $1.19 million following competitive bidding

Despite many Canberrans taking a long weekend following the public holiday, a Gungahlin home sold under the hammer for $1.19 million on Saturday in an auction buzzing with excitement and filled with hopeful potential buyers. 

The auction of the four-bedroom home at 359 Gundaroo Drive was slow to get going, but once an initial bid was placed, offers began to bounce back and forth as onlookers watched with anticipation. 

“The atmosphere here today was great; we had a lot of registered bidders who were all comfortable enough to participate. It was a very enjoyable process,” said selling agent Sam Taylor or MARQ Property. 

Bidding kicked off after some encouragement when one of five registered bidders, who joined the auction over the phone, placed a bid of $950,000. 

From there, bidding increased in increments of $25,000 to $1.025 million. Bids of $10,000 and $5000 then took the price to $1.11 million. 

One bidder followed this by placing a bid of $1.3 million, and increments of $20,000 and $5000 took the sale price of the home to $1.165 million when it was declared to be on the market. 

The five registered bidders fought tooth and nail with bids of $5000, $2000 and $1000 until the hammer fell at $1.19 million. 

With each open home drawing double-digits and all five registered bidders participating on the day, Taylor said he was happy with the result but was relieved for the sellers, too. 

“The current owners are actually off to an auction that started about five minutes after this one ended to buy their downsizing place,” he said. 

“We were on the phone with them letting them know how it went, so if they sold this home, they were bidding at the other one.

“We were really determined to get the property 100 per cent perfect, so we put a lot of work into the place before we put it on the market.” 

Taylor said four of the registered bidders were interested in the home throughout the campaign, but the eventual buyers came through the home for the first time right before go time.

“This is the first time [the buyers] looked at the home, we just showed them through the contract and the building report before the auction,” he said. 

“They just loved the home and were the ones who ended up snagging it in the end.” 

Meanwhile, a four-bedroom home at 7 Belfield Crescent, Florey, also sold after an unsuccessful auction for $1.045 million on Saturday, said selling agent Josh Yewdall of Belle Property Canberra. 

Bidding for the home started at $800,000 before it eventually passed in, which was followed by “huge negotiations that went really well” and pushed the home to a sale, Yewdall added.

“Despite being early this morning, we had a fair few neighbours around and fantastic weather … today ended with a happy seller and a happy buyer,” he said. 

The auction drew two registered bidders on the day and four hopeful onlookers who were interested in negotiating if the home was passed in and a deal couldn’t be reached.

“I think what is happening at the moment, broadly speaking, is that people are waiting for homes to pass in and trying to jump on them straight after,” Yewdall added. 

“We had people in line asking if they could put an offer on the home if it didn’t end up being negotiated. 

“Auctions, however, are still building traction for campaigns; it’s just a matter of how it is all managed on the day.”