Port Melbourne home sells above reserve as auction restrictions ease
A Port Melbourne home that used to be a part of a biscuit factory sold under the hammer late on Saturday for $425,000 above the reserve.
The two-storey, three-bedroom home at 35 Stokes Street – once a warehouse for the Swallow and Ariell Biscuit Factory – sold for $2,125,000.
It was such a popular property, the auction was brought forward by two weeks, selling agent RT Edgar Albert Park’s Simon Graf said.
The property was snapped up by a woman who beat out two other bidders.
“We’re finding strength in the market place week on week,” Mr Graf said of the sale.
It was one of the last auctions to be held where only 10 bidders were allowed to attend a public auction or home inspection at the same time in Melbourne.
Strict coronavirus-related rules were, at midnight on Sunday, eased to allow 20 people at a private inspection of a property, as long as social-distancing rules are met.
Up to 50 people will also be able to attend an auction held outside under the new rules that were introduced as Melbourne continued to record no new coronavirus cases.
“Getting here was by no means guaranteed,” Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday. “But we did it. You did it. It’s been a long, hard winter. Now, it’s time to enjoy the sun.”
Plenty of buyers were out enjoying the improving Melbourne weather at the weekend, with the preliminary auction clearance rate sitting at 73.5 per cent.
That was after 530 auctions were scheduled and 392 results were reported. There were 61 properties withdrawn from auction that were counted as not being sold as part of the clearance rate.
The former biscuit factory sale was not the only successful auction in Port Melbourne at the weekend. Another at the popular Beacon Cove sold under the hammer for $1.84 million – above the $1.77 million reserve.
RT Edgar Albert Park director Gerald Betts said the three-bedroom property at 47 The Crescent was snapped up by a family, one of two bidders on the property.
Mr Betts welcomed the news that more people would be allowed to attend public auctions and open for inspections.
“It will certainly help,” he said. “If you’re not on the market now though, you’ll miss this year’s auction market.”
He said the vendors he was dealing with were now looking to book auctions for the first two months of next year.
“Some people have been careful because of the restrictions so this will boost confidence in the market,” Mr Betts said.
Another bayside home, listed for the first time in 69 years, sold on Saturday to a family from Keysborough. They are planning to renovate it.
The three-bedroom home at 10 Alfred Street, Beaumaris, sold under the hammer for $1,285,000 after five bidders fought it out for the keys.
Selling agent Ray White Cheltenham’s Kevin Chokshi said the sale was an emotional one for the family who were selling the home after they inherited it.
“The executors had grown up in the property, so it was an emotional day,” Mr Chokshi said. “For them, it was a highlight knowing a developer was not going to demolish the home.”
The buyers are planning to rent out the home before they move in, he said.
In the city’s north, a family home at 111 Shaftsbury Street, Coburg, sold under the hammer for $1,445,000, well above the price range on the property of $1.3 million to $1.4 million.
There were five registered bidders, with four bidding at the public auction held at the property, while another was bidding online.
Barry Plant Coburg’s Steve Sfindilis said the home was snapped up by a local Coburg buyer who had recently sold their property, also in the suburb.
“A lot of the buyers are locals, absolutely, especially because of the schools so living in the Coburg area is really important to them,” Mr Sfindilis said. “Plus there’s all of the amenities so many of them just want to stay put.”
He said he was finding some buyers were snapping up homes as Christmas approached, as a way of ending a terrible 2020, especially as Melbourne endured tough lockdowns due to the coronavirus, job losses and also the fear of the pandemic itself.
“Now the shackles are off, they just want to finish the year on a high and they’re buying just for those purposes,” he said.
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