Casey home attracts 12 registered bidders

A three-bedroom Casey home sold under the hammer on Saturday morning for $580,000 after a fierce and fast-paced auction.

Despite tops of 40 degrees felt throughout the capital yesterday, more than 30 onlookers and 12 registered bidders gathered around the house at 11 Hugh Gilchrist Street.

The first bid of $500,000 was quick off the marker, which was followed by a counter bid of $510,000 shortly after.

The competition then began to ramp up, with the auction moving in increments of $5000 between three parties until the price reached $555,000.

At this point, LJ Hooker Kippax auctioneer Jenna Dunley accepted a $1000 increase to $556,000.

The auction then stalled, but after a brief moment, the starting bidder placed a bid for $565,000 at which one of the bidders declared they were out.

A reply of $15,000 was heard, bringing the price to $580,000 at which Dunley declared the property was on the market. But with no forthcoming bids, the last bidder walked home with the keys.

The auction was over in less than 15 minutes.

Records show the home last sold in 2013 for $374,950. The sale yesterday would make the property at 11 Hugh Gilchrist Street the strip’s highest recorded sale. The house at 23 Hugh Gilchrist Street sold for $570,000 in 2018.

Selling agent Lisa van Niekerk of LJ Hooker Gungahlin said the house had attracted a lot of interest in the lead-up to the auction.

“Over the course of the campaign that we launched on December 23, we had 81 separate buyers come through, hosted 111 inspections and had over 30 inquiries for the property,” she said.

“It was visible over the Christmas break and we scheduled the first open home on January 11 and we had 38 inspections on that one day. It’s been a good campaign.”

Van Niekerk noted that the vendor planned to sell the home in a bid to move closer to families in Canberra’s south.

The winning bidders were a couple downsizing from a larger home in Melbourne.

Elsewhere, a three-bedroom property in Hackett sold under the hammer for $925,000 to a first-home buyer via Upside listing agent Catherine Halloran. 

The house at 56 Rivett Street brought in seven registered bidders who vied to take home the keys of the charming home.

With an $800,000 starting bid, the auction gradually crawled past the $910,000 reserve price. Not long after, the hammer fell at $925,000.

According to Halloran, January has already seen a strong start with a lot of buyers in the marketplace.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest and competition from buyers and I don’t see any downturn at this stage,” she said.

The surge in the number of houses listed for auction this weekend comes off the back of a much quieter Australia Day long weekend when just one property was scheduled.