Melbourne auctions: Architect nabs $1.75m Brunswick East estate, ending two-year search
An architect beat a builder in the battle to snap up a deceased estate in Brunswick East at auction on Saturday, paying $1.75 million for the block.
The home at 9 Leinster Grove flew $200,000 above its reserve in an emotional sale that brought an end to a two-year search for the buyers, who hope to restore it to its former glory.
It was one of 484 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 73.5 per cent from 392 reported results, while 61 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding for the three-bedroom house with heritage overlay began at $1.5 million, within the guided price range of $1.45 million to $1,595,000.
Two parties fought it out, with bold rises of as much as $50,000 soon pushing the price to $1.75 million.
“I didn’t really control the bidding,” Jellis Craig Brunswick listing agent Mitchell Boys said. “That home had been in the one family for 90 years.
“You don’t get many 600-square-metre blocks in Brunswick opposite a park.”
The grandchildren of the owners were selling the house in what Mr Boys described as a “fairly emotional” sale.
It was also momentous for the buyers, who had been looking for a family home for two years.
“The wife, when they bought it, broke down in tears,” Mr Boys said. “They were relieved.”
He said the broader market had risen since Melbourne’s strict stage-four lockdown ended amid the ultra-low interest rate environment.
“That was almost a given because of the cost of money,” he said. “The market is going to be very strong for a while yet irrespective of the state of the economy.”
In Forest Hill, another deceased estate with scope to renovate sold under the hammer for $1.01 million.
The three-bedroom house at 5 Felicia Grove drew three onsite bidders and one online bidder in a hybrid auction, with Melbourne’s COVID-19 restrictions still allowing only 10 attendees at auction.
A price guide of $920,000 to $1,012,000 was given and proceedings kicked off at $900,000.
The price rose rapidly to $980,000 before a pause, and the home was declared on the market. The bidders then made a last-ditch effort to secure the home, edging the price up in $1000 and $2000 increments to $1.01 million.
The buyer, who is upgrading, plans to build a new building at the back, Ray White Blackburn director Peter Schenck said.
“Every auction we have been doing, the last six auctions, we have cleared them – we’re getting multiple bidders,” Mr Schenck said.
First-home buyers had been out in force, he added, but now he is starting to see investors.
“That tells me the market is on the way up.”
Elsewhere, a stunning Flemington house fetched $1.65 million at auction after four bidders registered.
A single professional woman beat out two young couples and a downsizer for the three-bedroom home at 20 Dartford Street, pushing the price $100,000 above reserve.
One of the vendors is from Techne Architects, Nelson Alexander Flemington’s Jayson Watts said, explaining the striking renovated living area behind the period facade.
He has seen motivated buyers in the market recently as Christmas approaches fast.
“It [the market] started off a bit slow and patchy after lockdown but the last three weeks it has picked up,” he said. “Good quality homes are selling.”
Another renovated family home drew such keen interest its auction was brought forward a day.
The five-bedroom house at 8 Kennedy Street, Fairfield received an early offer, prompting a sell-off between two parties on Friday.
It sold for $3.07 million in a quick auction, smashing its reserve of $2.7 million, after being listed with Jellis Craig Northcote’s Sam Rigopoulos and Paula Beavis.
“Fairfield is pretty tightly held and premium homes like this don’t come up often,” Ms Beavis said.
“Everybody’s been stuck at home for so long and they are deciding, ‘do I want to live in this space?’”
In Strathmore, a family home owned for 25 years sold for $1,237,500 after two bidders fought it out.
The three-bedroom house at 24 Roslyn Street was listed with a guide of $1.1 million to $1.2 million and drew interest for its school zone and substantial block size.
Nelson Alexander Essendon listing agent John Matthews sold three of his four auctions on Saturday and was in negotiations for the fourth at time of writing.
“Prices are lower than what they were in the peak of the market,” he said. “But the interest rates are lower [now] than what they were then.”
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