Melbourne auctions: Phillip Island couple snap up city crash pad for $150,000 above reserve
A Phillip Island couple wanting a city crash pad have snapped up a rare apartment in the imposing and tightly held Panorama building in Carlton, right on the edge of the CBD.
The last sale in the tower at 1 Queensberry Street was in October last year. The next most recent was another 14 months before.
Unit 94 last traded hands 20 years ago when it was sold by its original owners for $370,000.
Nelson Alexander auctioneer and listing agent James Pilliner said three buyers fought hard over Zoom for that apartment on Saturday, not just for its view or reputation, but for the quality work done on its conversion from an office building in the 1990s.
“That building is quite possibly the most popular north of the CBD,” he said. “Carlton is starved for oversized apartments, because of developers who build smaller apartments for students.”
The auction began at $1.05 million and the two first bidders brought the price up past the reserve of $1.09 million with four bids.
“The people bidding seemed really passionate,” Mr Pilliner said. “The bids got a bit more aggressive after that and a new buyer came into it.
“They were waiting for it to become unreserved. [The bidders] took it up to $1.24 million, which was the selling price.”
The final figure was $150,000 more than the reserve for the two-bedroom unit. The home more than tripled its value over 20 years.
“The people who bought it were a Phillip Island couple; they wanted a city crash pad,” Mr Pilliner said.
It was one of 483 auctions scheduled for Saturday. By evening, the Domain Group had reported a 44.1 per cent clearance rate from 197 reported results and 193 withdrawn. Because withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold, this pulls down the clearance rate. Of those conducted online, there was a 71 per cent success rate.
Later, in Fitzroy, Hawks captain Ben Stratton’s home passed in without a bid from a buyer, listing agent Mark Verrocchi reported.
The two-bedroom warehouse conversion at 75 Palmer Street was quoted with a price guide of $1.5 million to $1.65 million.
Stratton told Domain earlier in the week he was looking to make a sea change, and would watch the auction from Sydney.
Mr Verrocchi placed the sole bid of $1.5 million in an effort to encourage the four registered buyers, but with no luck.
They were still interested in purchasing, the Nelson Alexander agent said, but some were trying to pick up a bargain.
“Afterwards I got a call from a very opportunistic buyer,” Mr Verrocchi said, but declined to name the offer. “The reserve is really good, it’s $1.62 million. It’s in the quoted range.”
Stratton was happy to wait to get the price he wanted, Mr Verrocci said.
“He’s pragmatic about the whole thing, he’s disappointed, but he’s comfortable that we’ll get a buyer.”
Earlier, in Preston, a two-bedroom brick home sold well above reserve too.
The dated house at 2/65 Pender Street, had six buyers contend for the home.
Bidding was quick and in small increments, with Ray White auctioneer and listing agent Trish Orrico struggling to keep up at times.
The auction began at $460,000, below the quoted price range of $480,000 to $520,000.
Nearly 50 bids later, the home sold to a young couple for $655,000 – $145,000 more than reserve.
“We weren’t expecting that result,” Ms Orrico said. “It was a fixer-upper and the previous owner had been there about 30 years.
“It was an older lady so there wasn’t a lot of work done on it.”
She said it was hard to understate the effect the lack of properties for sale was having on price.
“In all honesty, there’s not as much on the market as there usually would be and there are an abundance of buyers ready to buy with pre-approvals,” Ms Orrico said. “That’s going to drive prices up, in my opinion.”
In Kingsville, a run-down home sold for $115,000 more than its reserve price.
The quoted price range for 27 Empress Street was $540,000 to $590,000. Jas Stephens agent Craig Stephens said seven prospective buyers were looking for a fixer-upper.
“It was a two-bedroom, period-style house in need of a major renovation,” He said. “The young buyer was going to do a major renovation.”
The buyer issued his first bid at $680,000, right before the hammer fell. One bid more was all it took for him to clinch the keys for $690,000.
Mr Stephens said the sale was an indication of strong buyer interest, even for more challenging projects.
“It goes to show there’s plenty of heat in the market in the inner west,” he said. “People want to get in and roll up their sleeves and give a property a complete and total makeover.”
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