Canberra auctions: Page home sells for $1.145m as auctions fire up

Canberra buyers are raring to go, with properties selling at auction in minutes on Saturday – including houses in the Belconnen region that attracted more than a dozen registered bidders each.

Despite face masks now being mandatory across the capital, more than 100 people gathered outside a four-bedroom home at 14 Knaggs Crescent, Page, and watched it sell under the hammer for $1.145 million.

The RZ2 block was located opposite Birrell Street Playground, where more parties had set up camp to watch the auction.

Selling agent Matt Shipard of Hive Property said eight groups were already lining up to register when the recently renovated house opened its doors for inspection prior to the auction.

“All up, there were 22 registered bidders,” he said.

Bidding for the home kicked off at $700,000 and quickly made its way past $900,000.

When the price reached $1 million, gasps could be heard from the crowd but that didn’t deter the bidders, who continued to raise the price in $10,000 and $5000 increments. 

At $1.02 million, auctioneer Steve Langford, also of Hive Property, announced it was on the market. The bids came in quickly thanks to five of the registered parties and eventually Mr Langford dropped the hammer at $1.145 million.

“The sellers weren’t expecting it to sell for that much. In fact, their reserve was around the $900,000 mark, so this beat it by more than $200,000,” Mr Shipard said.

“Throughout the campaign, the general feedback from buyers were up to that $1 million mark, but we had a couple of parties willing to go above and beyond for it – which is a testament to the interest for properties in this area.”

Mr Shipard had another property sell under the hammer in Waramanga on Saturday for $75,000 above its reserve. Although it was a strong result, Mr Shipard said the Belconnen and Weston Creek areas were “slightly different markets”.

He added that, because interest in Page was so high, there were multiple parties wanting to get a bid in “which suggests the depth of the market for that kind of property”.

Elsewhere, a three-bedroom property at 4 Galvin Place, Holt, sold at auction for $820,000 and drew 19 registered bidders.

Selling agent Jonny Warren of Jonny Warren Properties said he was surprised by the sale, considering “half of the house didn’t work”.

The deceased estate had room for renovation, which Mr Warren pointed out throughout the marketing campaign, and the eventual buyer was keen to undertake the project.

“I’ve got a home that needs you, your paintbrush [and] your paint buckets,” Mr Warren said in the marketing video.

“[But] it’s not just the painters you need. Bring your landscapers, bring your carpet guys … just bring everything.”

Mr Warren said bidding for the home started at $600,000 and increased in $20,000 and $10,000 increments thanks to 10 of the registered bidders.

The auction was over in less than five minutes, with the home beating its reserve by $120,000.

“People were in and out,” Mr Warren said. “The eventual buyer wanted it right from the start. She made her intention very clear – she wanted the home and there was nothing that was going to stop her.”

He said more than 100 groups had gone through the property during the two-and-a-half-week campaign, but only five parties had confirmed their intention to register at auction.

“Then all of a sudden, we had 14 parties who viewed the property that day and registered to bid,” he said.

“It’s just crazy right now. Usually, it’s a quiet period but buyers are plentiful … I think we’ll see more homes come on the market in spring and that will hopefully level out the market.”