Melbourne fixer-upper sells for $1.34m under the hammer in huge auction weekend
A four-bedroom home in Melbourne’s bayside sold the first time in more than 70 years, despite being in need of major repairs.
The property at 56 Marriott Street, Parkdale, sold at the weekend for $1.34 million, well above the advertised price range of $1.05 million and $1.15 million after four bidders competed.
Hodges Mentone director and auctioneer Mark Eddy said the same family had owned the property for three generations. The home was sold as part of a deceased estate.
The auction was filled with emotion, with the winning bidders, another family, planning to tear down the existing house and rebuild on the 682-square-metre block of land.
“It had been their grandma’s home and they had lived there themselves as a family, so it was emotional,” Mr Eddy said. “They were super happy in the end that it sold so well.”
By the end of Saturday, there were lots of happy vendors as Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate sat at 73.1 per cent.
This was after 853 auctions were scheduled and 654 results reported. There were 74 properties withdrawn from auction, which were counted as not being sold as part of the clearance rate.
It followed an interrupted month of auctions in June, where results were affected by the COVID-19-related lockdowns, in which the auction market moved online for two weeks.
Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said Melbourne’s auction clearance rate dipped in June to 70.4 per cent, 1 percentage point lower than in May.
“The impact of lockdowns and COVID-19 weighed heavily on the auction market over the month, nonetheless the city still recorded its highest June result since 2015,” Dr Powell said.
Domain’s auction report card for June showed Melbourne’s auction market was holding steady ground throughout 2021, as clearance rates consolidated between 70 per cent and 74 per cent.
In Melbourne’s north, a three-bedroom Reservoir home owned by the same family for more than 54 years sold at auction for $1.6 million.
The home at 16 Beatty Street on more than 1000 square metres of land sold just above the $1.56 million reserve.
Nelson Alexander Preston selling agent Joe Horton said three bidders registered, with two competing for the property. A home buyer was the winning bidder, beating out a developer.
They are planning to build a new home on the block.
Mr Horton said a large, but socially distanced, crowd gathered to watch the auction.
“Obviously, the family had it for a very long time and the neighbours knew the family and they were well known in the area,” he said. “Reservoir has become popular for family buyers, we’re definitely getting the flow-on effect through Preston [as people are priced out].”
One of the biggest reported sales for the week was in Dame Edna’s home suburb of Moonee Ponds. The recently built family home, which looked like it could have been an original California bungalow, sold for $3.026 million after two families battled it out for the keys.
The home at 33 Montague Street sold to one of those families after they made the winning bid above the $2.5 million reserve.
Nelson Alexander Keilor East partner Mark Giardina said sales of homes with outdoor space and a pool were becoming rarer in Moonee Ponds.
“It’s just very difficult to find and buy a home on a full block because they don’t come up very often,” Mr Giardina said.
Another of Melbourne’s biggest sales was a historic property that was once a brothel, and much later became the home of famed children’s book author Paul Jennings.
The current vendor bought 20 Acland Street, St Kilda, in 2017 for $1.95 million and sold it under the hammer for $2.67 million on Saturday.
Whitefox selling agent Peter Zervas said two bidders competed for the home, which had been renovated by the vendor but kept its 100-year-old facade.
An opening bid of $2.2 million set the scene, with the house selling for $300,000 above the reserve, Mr Zervas said.
“That’s a big price for a house with no car parking,” he said.
And, in Mordialloc, a much newer property sold under the hammer for $2.35 million, above the asking price range of $2.1 million to $2.2 million.
The duplex at 199a Beach Road had bay views and was bought by a family, who beat downsizers wanting to be close to the water, Belle Property Mentone auctioneer Simon Wendt said.
“The vendor only bought it two years ago for $1.9 million when the market was in a downturn and has sold it during the boom for $2.35 million so it’s not a bad investment,” Mr Wendt said.
“The reason we’re seeing results like this is because of the trend of people being able to work from home and only needing to travel to the office two or three times a week. They’re moving farther out and if you’re in lockdown why wouldn’t you want to be here,” he said.
We recommend
We thought you might like
States
Capital Cities
Capital Cities - Rentals
Popular Areas
Allhomes
More
