Lyneham home sets suburb record, selling for $1.861 million 

A four-bedroom property at 28 Mackennal Street in Lyneham has set a suburb record after it sold for $1.861 million via private negotiations, surpassing the previous benchmark by $161,000.

The residence was scheduled to go under the hammer last Thursday and despite having seven registered bidders, passed in at $1.825 million, Allhomes understands. A sale price was reached not long after.

Selling agent Theo Koutsikamanis, of McGrath North Canberra, said the drawcard for the eventual buyers was the property’s quality fixtures and its overall design.

“It’s a very bespoke home and a lot of people who had inspected the property couldn’t compare it to any other house,” Mr Koutsikamanis said.

“It’s a very spacious home. Everything is on a big scale including the living area and the master bedroom.”

Mr Koutsikamanis said the auction campaign was very busy with more than 200 people coming through the property during the two-week campaign.

“We did two open home inspections in one day a couple of times, so even though the campaign was short, we did the same amount of open homes as we would on any normal campaign,” he said.

“The reason we decided on a shorter-than-usual campaign was to avoid pre-auction offers. When you start accepting those, you lose transparency with other buyers. In my experience, some buyers miss out on a home because they’re not aware that there are early offers being made.”

The sellers initially decided to part ways with their three-year project in a bid to travel around the country with their young daughter, Mr Koutsikamanis said.

“However, because of COVID, they’ve had to put those plans on hold.”

“It wasn’t something they planned to do, they didn’t build the home just to sell it. It was more of a lifestyle choice. They wanted a bit of a change.”

The sellers, Aaron and Victoria, recently told Allhomes that they will spend an “extended period on the South Coast before we move onto our next project”.

According to government records, the sellers purchased the property in 2015 for $650,000.

The home was a collaboration of works between local architectural carpentry and fabrication company Kraftworks, which Aaron is also the founder of; and boutique construction company Megaflora, which is run by his brother.

The new buyers are a young professional couple who are upsizing from their inner-north apartment, Mr Koutsikamanis noted.

Allhomes record’s show Lyneham’s previous suburb record was set in August by the house at 45 Mackennal Street for $1.7 million.

Speaking on the general market, Mr Koutsikamanis said the lack of properties on the market has pushed buyers to the edge.

“There’s probably about four houses for sale in every suburb and those are getting picked up very quickly,” he said.

“I think the record-low interest rates have made all the difference for some people, some who are now in a position to buy something and would rather buy than rent… there just isn’t enough stock.”