Suburb records tumble across auctions in Canberra

The past few days have mirrored a stellar selling season in Canberra with four suburb records broken at auction in Kaleen, Evatt, Throsby and Nicholls.

The residential sales benchmark for Kaleen now sits at $1,607,500, with nearby Evatt at $1.5 million and Throsby at $1.4 million.

These latest record-breaking sales come after the Nicholls suburb record and the overall Gungahlin region record was broken on Saturday morning with a $2.475 million sale.

The residence at 10 Greenough Circuit, Kaleen sold in front of a crowd of more than 160 people and surpassed by $222,500 the previous record, which was last set in 2019.

Selling agent Mario Sanfrancesco of Blackshaw Manuka said the four-week auction campaign was “something I’d only ever experienced once before, in my whole career”.

More than 240 groups inspected the property with more than 500 people walking through the house. Come auction day, there were 11 registered bidders with six parties in the bidding war.

“The opening bid started at $1 million and it quickly made its way to the $1.4 million mark. From here, it slowed down with three parties pushing the price up to $1.55 million,” Mr Sanfrancesco said.

“It required a bit of work to get past the $1.6 million mark but we did it and one very happy family walked away with the keys.”

Mr Sanfrancesco said the sellers built the home in two years and decided to sell the house to take on a new project.

The eventual buyers were a young family looking to move into the Belconnen region. 

Elsewhere, the record-breaking house at 29 De Lissa Street, Evatt surpassed by $350,000 the previous record, which was set in August this year.

Selling agent Cris O’Brien of Home.byholly attributed the sale to the property’s commanding facade and its unique presence in the suburb.

“It has a Hamptons feel about it with the barn doors and when the sellers bought it, they renovated the interiors to reflect that overall character of the home,” Ms O’Brien said.

“A lot of people who came through the open home inspections had admired the house from afar so it definitely attracted a lot of people, including myself.

“I grew up in the Belconnen region and have always passed this home and wondered what was behind the barn doors and what it looked like… it was everything I imagined, just beautiful.” 

Throughout the three-week auction campaign, more than 100 people had inspected the property, and on the day of the auction nine parties registered to bid. 

Of those, three parties were actively involved in the bidding process, which kicked off at $1.27 million.

“There was an easy flow between the bidders, we didn’t really need to encourage them. The parties involved were very much carrying the auction,” she added.

The opening bidder eventually walked away with the keys.

“He wanted the house since he was 15 years old and said to his family that one day he’d own it and he did,” Ms O’Brien said.

According to government records, the house was purchased in 2004 for $568,500.

To round out the weekend’s record-breaking sales was the residence at 11 Quenda Close, Throsby which surpassed the suburb’s previous benchmark set in 2019 by $40,000.

Selling agent Sean Rogers of Blackshaw Woden, Weston Creek & Molonglo said the home’s spacious living areas with a deck that offered views were the drawcards for the eventual buyers.

“The property was only completed in March this year, so it definitely had a brand-new feel to it coupled with high-end inclusions and finishes,” Mr Rogers said.

The eventual buyer was one of two registered bidders at the auction, which passed in at $1.35 million. The highest bidder then pushed their offer up to $1.4 million where it sold.