Melbourne online auctions: Preston house records paper gain of almost $1 million after major renovation
A stylish house in Melbourne’s north sold for a paper gain of almost $1 million at online auction on Saturday after a major renovation and extension.
The four-bedroom home at 10 Pender Street, Preston was purchased for just $875,000 in 2016, and resold under the virtual hammer for a massive $1.83 million.
It was one of 508 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 79.3 per cent from 376 reported results, while 47 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The home’s garage was transformed into a separate office space and it had extra living and outdoor entertaining space added, making it more appealing for buyers.
McGrath Northcote principal agent Gino De Iesi said the result was “surprising” with 10 registered bidders, five of them active, fighting it out for the keys.
An opening bid of $1.55 million – at the top end of the price guide of $1.48 million to $1.55 million – was followed by a few $10,000 rises, then increments of just $2000 and $1000.
The buyers were a young professional couple, who had first seen through the house before Melbourne’s sixth lockdown in early August, Mr De Iesi said.
He said the sale price could be expected in suburbs closer to the city including Northcote and Thornbury.
“It’s very much a price in line with prices achieved in Thornbury,” Mr De Iesi said. “It was a very good sale and a very surprising result.”
One of the biggest results for the weekend was in Northcote, where a five-bedroom home with a pool at 430 Clarke Street, sold under the virtual hammer for $2,372,000 – $172,000 above the price when it was declared on the market.
Nelson Alexander Northcote’s selling agent and auctioneer Annalise Newell, who sold the property with agent Stephanie Hawke, said there were three registered bidders and all participated in the online sale. The buyer was a family with teenage children.
“The owners moved into the home in 2007 as a shack needing a ton of work,” Ms Newell said. “They did an extensive extension-renovation in 2017.”
Closer to the city, in Collingwood, a three-bedroom Victorian terrace at 62 Perry Street sold for $1,365,00 – well above the $1,175,000 to $1.25 million price guide.
Nelson Alexander Fitzroy selling agent Mason Staver said there were 18 registered bidders, with six of them making bids online.
After an opening bid of $1.2 million and a total of 98 bids, the home sold to a young family who will now decide whether to move in, or use the home as an investment, Mr Staver said.
A more modern terrace home at 125 Rose Street, Fitzroy, sold under the virtual hammer for $1,405,000 to a couple downsizing from the city’s east.
That price was almost $100,000 more than the neighbouring property, at 123 Rose Street, sold for seven weeks ago.
Though properties were selling well, Mr Staver said buyers were more discerning with their bids.
Melbourne’s property market could reopen entirely in November, thanks to the new roadmap out of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning buyers were not as desperate as they had been over the past few months.
But others were very aware that banks could tighten their lending criteria and make it harder for people to get a mortgage so they were taking a chance to buy now.
“People are future-proofing their purchases and larger family homes prices are surging,” Mr Staver said. “People are no longer looking for that stepping stone before buying something bigger; they’re stretching themselves but for a sensible reason.”
Bidders were more conservative at the auction of 92 Langs Road, Ascot Vale. The three-bedroom home had a price guide of $1.19 million to $1.29 million and sold under the virtual hammer for $1,245,000.
There were no flurries of offers, with the buyers the only bidders, making just two bids to win.
Auctioneer Greg Hocking Footscray’s Anthony Molinaro made two vendor bids during proceedings, including the opening bid of $1.2 million. After one bid of $1.22 million by the buyers, Mr Molinaro made another vendor bid at $1.24 million before declaring the property on the market.
The property almost passed in, before the buyers – a young couple in their 20s – made a final $5000 bid to cinch the deal.
Mr Molinaro said the home had a heritage overlay and was on a main road, which made it a very niche property to sell.
“I do think we got a fair market value for the home,” he said.
In Glen Iris, a three-bedroom clinker brick home passed in and was still available at the time of writing.
The renovated residence at 1/31 Flowerdale Road was listed with a price guide of $1.55 million to $1.65 million and received a bid of $1.56 million in the online auction before proceeding to private negotiations.
Speaking broadly about the market, Shelter Real Estate’s Zali Reynolds said it was very busy, with buyers still keen to take up the opportunity for private inspections.
“I feel like the market is going to continue to be as strong as it is until Christmas,” she said. “Demand is outstripping supply.”
Ms Reynolds said family homes were in demand, especially from buyers who did not want to renovate.
- With Elizabeth Redman
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