Melbourne auctions: Brighton tennis court passes in at $3.75 million

A Brighton tennis court passed in at auction on Saturday, after attracting just one bid.

The vendors hoped to sell their court first and their house separately afterwards, but buyers baulked at their multimillion-dollar hopes for each block.

Despite offering a smaller land size and no accommodation, the tennis court at 58 Were Street had a higher quoted price guide of $3.8 million to $4.1 million.

The house itself, at Number 60, had been listed with only $3.5 million to $3.8 million hopes despite offering 178 square metres more land.

Auctioneer and Marshall White agent Stephen Smith said heritage constraints slashed hundreds of thousands off the price of the house and larger block.

“The heritage overlay in this sort of market means heritage homes can sell below land value,” he said. “The home is 100 years old and it’s only had two families living in it ever.”

During both auctions, Mr Smith found himself one bidder short of a rally.

After a vendor bid of $3.7 million for the tennis court, he took one more offer of $3.75 million and passed it in. 

“There’s another party there but they haven’t put their hand up yet,” he said afterwards. “You never know the lay of the land with a block without a house before the day, and these things can often take more time to get off and away.”

Later, the home also passed in with one bid at $3.55 million.

Mr Smith said one of the parties he’d had negotiations with was looking to buy both the house and the adjacent tennis court.

By evening, Domain Group had recorded a 51.1 per cent clearance rate from 589 reported results.

Elsewhere, in Carnegie downsizers beat out first-home buyers in a competitive auction for a ground-floor unit.

The three-bedroom apartment at 5/219 Neerim Road was in a 1960s brick block, with only seven other units and a large wrap-around courtyard. Auctioneer and Ray White agent Tom Grieve said the home attracted strong competition, due to its enduring charm.

“A lot of the newer development [in Carnegie] has underpinned the value of these old brick buildings,” Mr Grieve said.

The home’s quoted price range was $550,000 to $600,000, and bidding started even higher at $608,000.

“Bidding was strong but in small increments, the start was a bit higher than we expected,” he said. “I think the buyer knew that and used it as a strategy to scare off some of the competition.”

The home sold to downsizers for $655,000.

Earlier in St Kilda East, a three-bedroom 1970s apartment passed in, despite a strong auction campaign.

The recently renovated apartment at 5/212 Alma Road attracted no bids from the several first-home buyers that had expressed interest in the unit, auctioneer Damian O’Sullivan said.

“They’re hesitant to bid,” he said. “They feel they’re putting themselves in a better negotiating position when they’re really not.”

Mr O’Sullivan said before a home reached reserve, buyers were risking nothing by putting in a bid or two to get ahead.

“It doesn’t cost you any money and you’re not signing a contract at that point,” he said.

The apartment was a top-floor property in the walk-up block of units, which Mr O’Sullivan said excluded downsizers – a buying demographic with a general aversion to stairs.

The quoted price guide was $630,000 to $690,000 and the home passed in on a vendor bid of $630,000.

Mr O’Sullivan said the unit’s renovation would create competition after the auction.

“It is stunning,” he said. “The transformation of a complex that is from the 1970s is incredible.

“It ticks all the boxes when it comes to protecting one’s capital growth in the apartment market.”

Marshall White One listed the home for sale with an asking price of $690,000 following the auction.