Melbourne auctions: Time-capsule house sells for $1,052,000 on quiet weekend
A quick-thinking agent secured four bidders for a Box Hill South auction after scheduling extra inspections just before the stage-four lockdown kicked in nearly a month ago.
The listing for 1 Douglas Avenue had just gone live before the hard lockdown was announced, and Fletchers listing agent Ian van Eijk said it might have helped him clinch the sale on Saturday.
“Finger on the pulse is what you have to do at the moment because everything is changing so rapidly,” he said. “As soon as we got word about the lockdown and what it would be like we started to get everyone back through so most buyers saw it twice.
”The board had no auction time or date on it in case we had to lock down.”
It was one of just 89 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. On the last weekend of August 2019, there were 701 auctions.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 38.7 per cent from 30 reported results, while 45 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Bidding for the mostly original three-bedroom home began at $900,000, below the price guide of $940,000 to $990,000.
The four participating buyers traded $10,000 bids until the home was announced on the market at $980,000, then kept up the pace.
It sold for $1,052,000 after about three dozen bids, which was $82,000 more than the $970,000 reserve.
Mr van Eijk said the home was like a time capsule, and the buyer will likely move in and renovate.
“It has a good floorplan and it’s walking distance to the tram and college,” he said.
Earlier in Reservoir, an unliveable home sold to a developer after passing in at auction.
The two-bedroom home at 161 Henty Street had been a squat, and none of the buyers was looking at keeping the structure, Stockdale and Leggo listing agent Aldo Verga said.
“It’s been sitting there empty for a few years. It’s not the house, it’s the land and location,” he said. “The property wasn’t liveable and it was really land value.
“I’d say the majority of enquiry was from developers who wanted to build a multi-unit site.”
It passed in to a developer for $555,000 who then bought it after auction for $590,000.
Mr Verga said it may become units or the buyer’s home depending on council approvals.
In Oakleigh South, a three-bedroom home sold under the hammer to a first-home buying couple.
The home at 28 Elora Road needed some work done, but buyer Anthony, who did not give a last name, said it was a dream to nab the home for $933,000.
“It was a day of firsts today – first auction, first online auction, first bid and first house we’ve ever bought. We’re super happy and excited and it’s just surreal,” Anthony said. “The property ticked all the boxes, and yes there is an element of risk with stage four lockdown, but we weren’t willing to wait for our dream.
“By hook or by crook we were going to do it.”
Ray White listing agent Leigh Kelepouris said they decided to go ahead with the sale because the home needed so much work, and few owner-occupiers were keen.
“The majority of buyers saw this as a development opportunity so based on that we decided to press on with the auction, even during Stage 4 restrictions,” he said. “It was the right call as we ended up with nine registered bidders, six of whom were active.”
In Geelong’s Belmont, another couple nabbed their first home in an auction with eight active parties.
Bidding for the three-bedroom home at 23 Tettenhall Ridge began at the bottom of the quoted price guide of $579,000 to $599,000 and quickly passed the top.
It was placed on the market at $620,000 and sold for $655,000.
Barry Plant listing agent Kieron Hunter said it was one of the better sales he had conducted online.
“We had 61 people through it in the end and eight bidders,” he said. “That’s a record for the online platform, we usually have six or seven.
“The reserve was adjusted upwards during the campaign and it still went above that. The vendors were stoked.”
Mr Hunter said despite interest from buyers in Melbourne, they weren’t keen to bid unless they could see the property.
“I actually had someone from Melbourne having a go. They hadn’t seen it, but they had someone look on their behalf,” he said. “To be fair, with lockdown It makes it hard.
“If you have someone you know and you trust saying it was a nice house I’d be comfortable [buying sight unseen].”
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