Price benchmark set in Albion: home sells at auction for $1.1 million
An auction in Albion, in Melbourne’s north-west, set a “new benchmark” for a house sales when frenzied bidding saw a four-bedroom, heritage-listed home sell for $1.1 million.
Neighbours of 35 Sydney Street cheered as the price reached $1 million, Barry Plant Sunshine director and auctioneer Jason Allen said.
Ten bidders registered, but only three were active throughout the auction, after some big bids were made.
A young couple were the buyers, and are planning to make the California bungalow their forever home.
The house, on land that cannot be developed, sold extremely well, Mr Allen said.
“We thought the top end would be around $900,000 to $950,000 on a good day,” he said. “It has a new benchmark for Albion. It’s put Albion back on the map.”
The auction was one of 523 listed in Melbourne at the weekend, adding to the strong preliminary auction clearance of 78.7 per cent, just below the highest recorded for the year.
Last weekend, clearance rates reached 82 per cent, their highest point since 2015, Domain data shows. Twenty-four properties were withdrawn from auction and were counted as not sold as part of the clearance rate.
One of the biggest results of the weekend was in Melbourne’s east where a five-bedroom home sold under the hammer for $2.71 million.
The home, at 12 Devon Street, Box Hill South, which had been built recently, saw five bidders fight it out for the keys.
Fletchers Blackburn director and auctioneer Tim Heavyside said the home had been listed with hopes between $2.6 million and $2.8 million.
The buyers, a young family, bought the property with some members seeing it for the first time on the day of the auction.
Only the wife had seen the home, and the husband was yet to look through it, Mr Heavyside said.
Although there had been strong sales, he said some properties were selling better than others.
“There is good activity in the market but I don’t know if it’s dancing forward,” he said. “It does depend on what type of property. Houses are selling better than units, but villa units are going very well.”
A villa unit, 2/21 Clyde Street, Kew East, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, sold for $1.49 million, above the $1.27 million reserve.
Nelson Alexander Kew’s Mark Verrocchi said six bidders, including young families competed, but they were beaten by cashed-up downsizers.
Downsizers were also bidding on a home close to the beach in Sandringham. The four-bedroom home at 84 Abbott Street sold under the hammer for $2.64 million.
Buxton Real Estate Sandringham’s Richard Slade said three bidders, two families and a couple planning for their retirement, were active through the auction with the couple making the winning bid.
Mr Slade said the vendors were selling after relocating to Queensland. They moved after the coronavirus pandemic put Melbourne (and Victoria) into a strict lockdown for most of 2020.
“They built it specifically to live in it long term but they decided on a change in direction after last year,” Mr Slade said.
Confidence was returning to the Melbourne market, with property owners more comfortable to buy before they sell, he said.
“The confidence that’s out in the market at the moment is seeing purchasers buy before they sell their own home,” he said. “It’s completely opposite to last year where people wanted to sell before they bought again.”
In Melbourne’s leafy Camberwell, a small, four-bedroom home on a large block of land was snapped up for $2.45 million, right on the reserve.
The home, at 506 Burke Road, Camberwell, sold to an investor, one of three bidders, who will look to rent out the property.
Nelson Alexander Kew director Cameron Ingram said the buyer was local to the suburb.
Other bidders on the day were keen to either renovate the existing property on the large block of land or to tear down and rebuild their dream home.
“There was quite a lot of competitive bidding on the day,” Mr Ingram said.
In one of Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, a townhouse at 1A Perth Street, Murrumbeena, sold under the hammer for $1,287,000 – above the $1.05 million and $1.15 million price range.
Ray White Carnegie’s Josh Hommelhoff said a large but socially distanced crowd gathered to watch the action unfold. Six bidders, all young couples, competed.
A large crowd also watched the sale of a four-bedroom at 12 Wallace Avenue, Murrumbeena.
The home, which was renovated in 2015 and also had a pool, sold under the hammer for $2.38 million, above the $1.87 million reserve.
Six bidders, all families, competed for the sale, with an opening bid of $1.7 million setting the scene for the “full-on auction”.
That bid came before the auctioneer had even finished his opening sales spiel, Mr Hommelhoff said. That opening bidder was the successful buyer on the day.
“The buyers were a lovely family and they were so excited the kids were running around choosing which bedroom would be theirs,” Mr Hommelhoff said.
The vendors, who had owned the property for more than 10 years, are now planning on upsizing to acreage.
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