Melbourne weather cold but auction market stays hot

Melbourne sometimes has four seasons in one day, but at the weekend, there was just one: definite winter.

Bidders still braved the polar weather, which caused chaos across the city and resulted in Frankston pier being torn in two. 

By Sunday, Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate sat at 70 per cent, after 474 auctions were held and 349 confirmed results reported.

It is the fourth week in a row that Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate has sat at 70 per cent or above.

Marshall White Stonnington director and auctioneer John Bongiorno said it wasn’t just the weather auction-goers were talking about, but also where interest rates were going over the next few months.

Economists, including Domain’s Trent Wiltshire, have predicted another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia before the end of the year.

“That was the big theme of the day,” Bongiorno said.

Confidence was still high with multiple bidders on properties across Melbourne, and at all price ranges, according to agents and auctioneers. 

Young families are also coming back to buy after regaining the confidence to put their hands up as Melbourne’s auction results continue to do well.

A young family were the buyers of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 29 Mountain View Parade, Rosanna.

Nelson Alexander Ivanhoe’s Gordon Hope said the weather held up for the auction, in which three bidders battled it out. 

The property sold for $1.4 million — $150,000 above reserve.

“It was nice to see strong bidding at the auction,” Hope said.

Likewise, a family bought a property at 17 Teddington Road, Hampton, after outbidding three others for the keys.

The four-bedroom property dubbed the “perfect family oasis” sold for $2.75 million — $25,000 above reserve.

Bongiorno said it was one of a few auctions in Melbourne’s inner east at which families had been the buyers.

One of the biggest reported sales for the weekend was at 89 Gordon Street, Balwyn, bought by a young family to be closer to schools.

Jellis Craig Hawthorn auctioneer Steven Abbott said there were seven bidders fighting for the keys.

“Three or more bidders [on a home like this] you would expect in a very strong market,” Abbott said.

The property sold for $3,108,000. 

While families were buying their next home, developers were also buying, with a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 3 James Street, Surrey Hills, selling to a woman who planned to develop it.

The property sold for $2.01 million, which, according to the selling agent, was above reserve. 

Ray White Balwyn auctioneer Bronwyn Lucas said multiple bidders battled for the keys.

“We had a huge crowd of around 150 people attend the auction on the day with four bidders competing for the property,” Lucas said.

“There aren’t many properties like this at the moment in the premium end of Surrey Hills, and the more than 80 groups through the opens highlights that.”

A developer was pipped at the post at the sale of 315 Barkly Street, Elwood. The three-bedroom home sold by Pride Real Estate sold for $1,955,000, according to buyer advocate Frank Valentic, of Advantage Property.

Valentic said the property initially passed in for $1,935,000 before selling after a short negotiation. The buyer was a young woman looking to renovate. 

In the apartment market, first-home buyers beat four other bidders to buy a two-bedroom apartment at 4/35 Walsh Street, South Yarra.

Hocking Stuart South Yarra sold the property for $815,000 — $65,000 above the reserve.

Likewise a ground-floor apartment 6/5 St James Road, Armadale, sold $94,000 above the reserve for $774,000.

“It had the wow factor of a courtyard,” Valentic said.

First-home buyers beat another couple looking to buy into the two-bedroom property, which was sold by Hocking Stuart Armadale.