Knockdowns and renovators delights sell in Super Saturday of auctions in Melbourne
A 103-year-old former prisoner of war and his 92-year-old wife watched from the sidelines as the house they built 58 years ago sold under the hammer to another family.
The three-bedroom home at 49 Russell Street, Surrey Hills, sold for $1.83 million after four bidders competed for the keys.
Fletchers Glen Iris selling agent Andrew Mackintosh said the “beautiful couple” no longer needed the home and were selling up and moving into aged care.
“It was a lovely story with the vendors,” Mr Mackintosh said. “They’ve kept the place immaculately, especially for an older-style home, the maintenance and upkeep is something you don’t usually see.”
The couple were supported by their adult grandchildren and great grandchildren at the emotional sale, with a couple looking to downsize and renovate the property being the ultimate buyers, he said.
“It was nice to get a good result for them,” Mr Mackintosh said.
The auction was part of another Super Saturday of sales in Melbourne, where more than 1000 auctions are held at the weekend.
By Saturday night, Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate sat at 74.5 per cent after 1062 auctions were scheduled and 821 results were reported.
There were 77 properties withdrawn from auction, counted as not being sold as part of the clearance rate.
Renovators and builders were the big buyers across the weekend in Melbourne, with one of biggest auction results in the city’s east, where a renovator’s delight sold under the hammer for $3,381,000.
That sale price was well above the guide of $2.8 million to $3 million for the three-bedroom home at 13 Mangan Street, Balwyn.
Marshall White Balwyn’s William Chen said five bidders — all families — were wanting to knock down and rebuild their dream home, rather than fix up the existing one, which was on 1011 square metres of land.
“The buyer is looking to rebuild the home to live in it,” Mr Chen said.
The competition was fierce at the auction with the opening bid of $2.8 million bringing a flurry of hands raised with counter bids.
“Balwyn is really popular, especially for land or looking for properties to rebuild on,” Mr Chen said.
South-east of the CBD, a five-bedroom home on an 822-square-metre block at 3 Bay Street, Parkdale, sold under the hammer for $2,575,000.
The property, sold as part of a deceased estate, was owned by the same family since first being subdivided in 1953.
“The original owner’s mother said to her, ‘make sure you get the biggest block of land’,” Hodges Mentone selling agent Katrina O’Brien said.
A cottage was originally built on the block, but this was replaced in the 1970s by the home that now sits on the land.
The buyer, a family, will look to renovate the home to give it a more modern look and feel, Ms O’Brien said.
“They won out, they beat out a developer who was also bidding,” she said.
Hodges also sold a five-bedroom home at 12 Carinya Avenue, Aspendale, to a family looking to update it. The home sold under the hammer for $1.25 million, $150,000 above the reserve.
In ritzy inner-suburban Albert Park, a man who was trying to avoid doing any major work to a home snapped up 11 Herbert Street for $1.68 million.
The two-bedroom home sold for just above the guide price of between $1.55 million and $1.65 million.
The buyer, who had been renting in Albert Park, negotiated with agents and the vendor after the property initially passed in on a $1.67 million bid.
“It’s an easy property to just buy and live in,” Cayzer Real Estate Albert Park’s Michael Szulc said. “The buyer didn’t want the cost and hassle of renovating.”
The vendors, who had been using the property as an investment, were rapt with the sale, Mr Szulc said.
A home in need of a major spruce up, in Melbourne’s north-west, sold for $2,125,000 under the hammer after some aggressive bidding.
The three-bedroom home at 14 Bruce Street, Strathmore, was declared on the market at $1.6 million, and five bidders caused the price to soar. The buyer was a family hoping to build their dream home.
Nelson Alexander Essendon’s David Vaughan said the property had been owned by the same family since 1926, with a home built on the land in 1947.
“The owner was a builder and he built the family home and lived in it for a period of time,” Mr Vaughan said.
The property was being sold as part of a deceased estate, with family members watching on throughout the emotional auction, he said.
“Sites with unrenovated or period homes are very, very few and far between and that’s why these types of auctions are just doing really well,” Mr Vaughan said. “There’s just really low stock levels for these types of family homes.”
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