Canberra auctions: Three-bedroom Chifley home sells for $1.27 million

A three-bedroom house in Chifley sold for $1.27 million under the hammer on Saturday after a short and swift bidding war between three parties.

Nestled on 684 square metres of land, the single-level property at 23 Mayne Street boasts a pool at the centre of the home and spacious living and dining areas.

Listing agent Matt Shipard of Hive Property said more than 60 groups came through the house and nine bidders registered on the day.

Bidding for the property kicked off at $1 million and was followed with a counter bid of $1.15 million.

The offers increased in increments of $5000 until proceedings reached $1.25 million and the starting bidder declared they were out. A new party then entered the race with a $1.26 million bid which saw a $10,000 reply shortly after.

At this point, bidding reached a halt and auctioneer Jason Roses informed the crowd the property was on the market. With no forthcoming bids, the hammer fell at $1.27 million.

The house has been owned by the same family for the last decade, but the vendor is now ready to downsize, Mr Shipard said.

The property’s location in a quiet street and its proximity to the Woden Town Centre and Westfield, as well as schools, were big drawcards for the new owners.

Although he expected the buyers to be downsizers, a young family snapped up the residence. 

“Being a single-level house, I anticipated our target market was downsizers and whilst there was plenty of interest from that demographic, a young family bought it in the end because of its location,” he said.

It was one of 49 scheduled auctions in Canberra on Saturday.

Last weekend, preliminary Domain data recorded the city’s auction clearance rate at 90 per cent out of 41 scheduled auctions. The weekend prior to that, the preliminary clearance rate was at 83 per cent out of 51 scheduled auctions.

Elsewhere on Saturday, a four-bedroom property in Ainslie sold for $1.19 million at auction.

Agent Brett Hayman of Hayman Partners described the auction at 92 Ebden Street as “consistent” despite having only two registered bidders.

He said Canberra’s strong clearance rate in recent weeks is a sign that the market is strong, and he tipped the strength to continue.

“It’s really carried on from the last quarter of 2019, which was a fantastic quarter for the property market that saw a record number of sales, and that has continued into this quarter,” Hayman said.

“It’s been a slow start to the year with the bushfires, smoke and hail but the last few weeks have certainly picked up in the market and we’ve seen that with [Hayman Partners’] 100 per cent clearance rates in the last two weeks.”