Melbourne auctions: Mixed results amid stamp duty increases, high vendor hopes and 'wintry blast'
A two-storey terrace overlooking Darling Gardens in Clifton Hill, with a price guide of $3.8 million to $4.18 million, was passed in at auction on Saturday after it failed to attract a single bid.
Auctioneer Arch Staver from Nelson Alexander Fitzroy opened the auction with a vendor’s bid of $3.8 million but couldn’t tempt any of the 40-plus onlookers, many of them taking cover under umbrellas.
The beautifully renovated, National Trust-listed home – known as Elsie Leigh, at 231 Gold Street, built about 1885 in the decorative Boom-era style – was one of 1148 auctions scheduled across Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 77.3 per cent from 887 reported results.
Despite passing in at auction, Mr Staver was confident the home, owned by the same family for more than 20 years and renovated 10 years ago, would be sold within days.
“This will sell in the next few days. There’s no question. Houses like this around here have been selling for well over $4 million.”
Mr Staver said at least one interested party was attending another prestige auction at the same time nearby. But he expected to start receiving offers on the stunning period home as early as Sunday.
“We have two parties revisiting it tomorrow and are hopeful to have it wrapped up in a few days,” he said on Saturday afternoon.
Despite a lacklustre auction, Mr Staver insisted there were plenty of buyers willing to splash on multimillion-dollar homes. He doesn’t expect stamp duty and land tax hikes for high-end property buyers – flagged to be introduced in next week’s budget – to slow the top end of Melbourne’s property market.
A Knight Frank report, released earlier this month, showed Melbourne’s prime property market – defined as the upper 5 per cent of the market – picked up pace in the March quarter.
Melbourne’s prime market increased by 0.4 per cent in the March quarter – double the 0.2 per cent rise in the previous quarter, the report found.
Mr Staver said the newly announced stamp duty increases on properties like the one he auctioned on Saturday would not be enough to deter buyers.
“The changes might be a nuisance to people, but they are not going to be an obstacle to people buying at that end of the market,” he said.
In South Melbourne, the auction of a two-storey terrace house took off despite the uncertainty of Victoria’s planned stamp duty increase for $2 million-plus properties.
The three-bedroom home at 16 Bridport Street was listed with a price guide of $2.55 million to $2.7 million and offered with a reserve of $2.85 million.
But with five bidders fighting it out, the residence sold for $3.24 million to a professional couple.
“It flew despite all that [uncertainty],” Greg Hocking Holdsworth’s Warwick Gardiner said.
“[Given] the interest in good quality period homes at that end, I don’t think, at the end of the day, it is going to make too much of an impact on people’s buying decisions.”
In Thornbury, a Californian bungalow set a suburb record when it sold at auction for $2.465 million.
The three-bedroom plus study house at 42 Speight Street had been listed with a price guide of $2 million to $2.2 million and drew five bidders attracted to its craftsmanship and larger land size of 605 square metres.
One of the bidders had not been planning to buy for another year, but decided to bid now to avoid paying extra stamp duty in future, Jellis Craig Northcote director Sam Rigopoulos said.
“Thornbury; it’s come a long way. It will be at $3 million [soon],” Mr Rigopoulous said, adding that it still represented good value compared to nearby Northcote.
In leafy Malvern East, the auction of a renovated four-bedroom brick home was competitive, with four registered bidders taking part in the auction of 16 Rowena Road.
The large, light and contemporary home, marketed as looking “every bit the humble home from kerbside”, was listed with a price guide of $1.5 million to $1.65 million.
Bidding opened well below the guide, with an opening bid of $1.4 million, but quickly passed the reserve as all four bidders raised their hands in the fast-paced auction.
The winning bid of $1.73 million was placed by a couple who had been looking in the area for some time and had missed out at other recent auctions.
“The buyers had been to a few other auctions of mine that had escaped them because of their budget, but today they were determined not to miss out,” listing agent Leigh Kelepouris from Ray White Oakleigh said.
Mr Kelepouris said the vendors, who are moving to a larger property, were also pleased with the auction result.
“Considering the sellers only bought a couple of years ago, they are delighted at how much the property has increased in value since they purchased,” he said.
Public records show the property last changed hands in late 2018 for $1.535 million.
Meanwhile, in Footscray, an unrenovated single-fronted Edwardian home at 29 Parker Street was also passed in on a vendor’s bid of $1.1 million on Saturday morning.
Listing agent Adam Welling from Hockingstuart Yarraville said the house – a classic fixer-upper – didn’t attract a single bid despite receiving two offers before the auction.
Rather than being listed with an indicative price guide, the home was advertised with a reserve of $1.25 million.
“We advertised the reserve price right throughout the campaign,” Mr Welling said. “And we did receive a couple of offers prior to the auction that were a little bit lower than the asking price.
“So, now we’ll try to sell it by private sale.”
Mr Welling said despite having five auctions scheduled for Saturday, they didn’t sell anything under the hammer, after two sold prior and the others got passed in.
“I’m not sure if it’s a reflection on the stock or the price expectations of the vendors, or if the market is starting to turn as this wintry blast hits,” he said.
Mr Welling said in some cases, vendors’ expectations were above what the market is willing to pay.
“Sellers’ expectations have certainly caught up with buyers’ expectations. If it’s a period home or a family home that is fully renovated, then we are still getting multiple bidders, but if it’s not an A-grade home or if it’s an apartment or a townhouse and the price is a bit high, then we’re not getting too much action on them,” he said.
With Elizabeth Redman
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