Deakin home breaks suburb and ACT auction records

A five-bedroom home in Deakin broke records after fetching a $6.6 million on Sunday.

The result set the suburb record in Deakin and also marks the highest-value sale via auction in ACT history.

The property at 81 Dominion Circuit was sold by Mario Sanfrancesco of Blackshaw Manuka, a name synonymous with record-breaking sales in Canberra’s Inner South.

The house was renovated in 2011 by renowned architect Paul Tilse with a U-shaped floor plan, a central courtyard, and a 15-metre long pool with a 12-person spa.

Government records show Deakin’s previous residential benchmark was set by the house at 4 Hotham Crescent when it sold in 2018 for $5.75 million. The latest sale beat that by $850,000.

The ACT auction record was set only four months earlier, also handled by Mr Sanfrancesco, at 2 Grant Crescent, Griffith, which sold for $6.41 million. The Deakin sale surpassed that by $190,000.

“I was confident it’d set a new Deakin record because the calibre of the house was second to none,” Mr Sanfracesco said.

“I wasn’t too sure whether it’d set the overall auction record but it did and that goes to show that quality property with an effective marketing campaign, coupled with competitive bidders will get a strong sale.”

The auction brought in 10 registered bidders of which four parties actively participated, Mr Sanfrancesco said.

“It kicked off at $5.5 million and increased fairly steadily until it reached $6.45 million where we hit a bit of a pause, followed by a few discussions and then a few more bids came it before the hammer eventually fell,” he said.

More than 100 people gathered in the backyard of the property, which stretches across more than 2000 square metres of land.

“It was a beautiful sunny day for an auction … we held the auction at the rear end of the property, facing the pool and everyone in attendance was quite comfortable,” he said.

Mr Sanfrancesco added that a number of local, interstate and expats looking to move to the capital expressed interest in the home with more than 100 groups inspecting the house throughout the auction campaign. The eventual buyer was a local buyer looking to upsize.

With the federal election now set for May 21, Mr Sanfrancesco has no qualms about it affecting the premium end of Canberra’s market.

“This end of the market is stronger than ever and the sheer fact that we had 10 registered bidders shows the depth of buyers looking for a quality home,” he said.

“Often, when people are looking for this type of home they gear towards the building process but many buyers don’t have the time for that and would rather put a price in, turn a key and move in.

“We have federal elections every few years and it affects everyone at some point to some degree but I don’t think it affects this level of buyers because they’re purchasing with the intent of living in it for more than a decade or so.”