First-home buyer splashes $1,262,000 on stylish Abbotsford renovation
A first-home buyer secured the keys to a renovated Abbotsford home for $1,262,000 at auction on Saturday, beating three others.
Four first-home buyers turned out to bid on the colourful two-bedder at 235 Nicholson Street, which was listed with a price guide of $1.1 million to $1.15 million.
One party placed an opening bid of $1.11 million and the auction took off from there, with all four parties trading bids.
The ultimate buyer, a first-home buyer couple from Melbourne’s inner suburbs, put forward a $2000 bid to purchase the colourful home for some $112,000 above its $1.15 million reserve. BigginScott Richmond auctioneer Russell Cambridge said they consistently put forward $2000 bids throughout the entire auction.
BigginScott listing agent Julie Taylor said the property’s ideal location, and the fact it was move-in ready, was a huge drawcard for buyers.
“First-time buyers don’t want to do work. They want to move straight in,” she said.
It was one of 1144 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.7 per cent from 979 reported results across the week, while 131 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In a marathon, nearly hour-long auction, a young family secured a four-bedroom home in Forest Hill on Saturday for $1,425,000, more than double what it last sold for in 2012.
The house at 22 Ansett Crescent was listed with a price guide of $1.18 million to $1.28 million, with nine bidders registered for the auction. The home last sold for $580,000 in 2012, records show.
Ray White Forest Hill lead agent and auctioneer Shaun Perumal said five parties ultimately traded bids on the day, pushing the price above the property’s reserve of $1.32 million.
“There were close to one hundred bids, with small, sometimes only one-to-two-thousand-dollar bids,” he said.
“But once it hit $1.37 million it was really on and then it was like a boxing ring with two parties who didn’t want to let it go.”
The 662-square-metre property had a popular campaign, something Perumal attributes, in part, to the strategy his agency utilised.
“Because it is smaller, we had to ensure the styling was right and we only ever took a handful of people through at a time, so it didn’t seem too crowded,” he said.
For the successful bidders of 5 Parkin Avenue, Cheltenham, serendipity played a role in securing the four-bedroom home for $1.71 million.
“I’d met the couple a few times at other property inspections,” Ray White Cheltenham agent and auctioneer Angela Limanis said. “They were looking for something new, but there hadn’t been anything suitable in the area until they saw this listing the night before the auction and inspected it the morning of.”
The custom-designed, two-level home was built within the past five years by Boutique Homes with input from the vendors.
“Most of the homes in the area were built between the 1970s and 90s, so this home was perfect for the buyers,” said Limanis.
The couple was also drawn to the home’s Hamptons façade and its desirable location on the well-known weatherboard streetscape, which is also within walking distance of Southland Shopping Centre.
Kicked off by a vendor bid of $1.5 million, Limanis said the auction was initially slow to get going.
“It took a minute of me buttering up the crowd before I could get another bid but once I did, then it was on with intense bidding over seven minutes, with four bidders actively bidding, going past the reserve of $1.6 million with the couple ultimately coming out on top.”
LJ Hooker head of research Mathew Tiller said a clearance rate of close to 60 per cent two weeks in a row shows that despite soft prices there is still buyer demand.
The softness in prices is due to higher-than-average listings on the market, something that Tiller said has begun to show signs of slowing down.
“The festive period has set in, and there is less coming onto the market but next year we will see listings elevated again at the start of the year while interest rates remain high,” he said.
However, he believes that later in 2025, the market will change.
“Listings will remain elevated until we see that first interest rate cut, which should probably be in May next year and will enable higher borrowing capacity for buyers and see more buyers back into the market.”
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