Prestige Melbourne homes blitz reserve by $1.2m as spring market kicks off

Melbourne’s spring market has launched with fireball auctions pushing properties more than $1.2 million over reserve.

Properties rarely sell for seven figures over reserve, let alone two in a day.

The hefty prices paid at the aggressively contested sales on Saturday, in Hawthorn and Deepdene, suggests there is still sting in the market.

A buyer shelled out more than $1.2 million over reserve for a humble brick duplex in Hawthorn.

Two apartments at 2 and 2A Fairview Road, in a riverside nook, sold together for $3,825,000.

And in Deepdene, a triple-fronted Victorian house smashed its reserve by $1.4 million.

They were among nearly 900 homes across Melbourne to go under the hammer on Saturday – the highest number since the pre-election rush of 901 auctions on June 25.

Domain Group posted a clearance rate of 78 per cent from 725 auctions reported on Saturday. 

No. 18 Campbell Road in Deepdene sold to a local family for $6,205,000, after the under-bidder attempted knockout bids of $100,000 and $200,000.

“It was an extraordinary auction with rapid-fire bidding,” auctioneer Scott Patterson of Kay and Burton said. “The final 10 bids netted nearly $1 million.”

A 150-strong crowd watched six contenders fight for the 1890s property which stood on 1300 square metres. The five-bedroom home was declared on the market at $4.8 million.

In Hawthorn, it took just seven bids, on an opening of $2.4 million, for the neat 1930s property to hit reserve.  

Jellis Craig auctioneer Richard Earle announced it on the market at $2.6 million. 

Before the auction, Mr Earle said some prospective buyers indicated they would build a dream home on the plum 666-square-metre block, which has a 36-metre frontage. 

Fairview is a pretty cul-de-sac which snakes towards the Yarra River, on the lip of Richmond, in an area known as Scotch Hill. 

The property was built in 1938 in a duplex style of a ground-floor apartment and an upper-floor apartment, which are in mostly original condition. 

During the campaign, Jellis Craig spruiked​ its potential as an investment – live in one, rent out the other – or as a triple-A site for a new house, with its city views and proximity to some of Melbourne’s best private schools. 

Agent Mark Salvati said demand was outpacing the supply of listed homes, and the Scotch Hill patch was tightly held and highly sought.

He said the new owner didn’t yet have plans for the property.

Hawthorn recently topped a list of the fastest-growing suburbs in Melbourne.

House prices in Hawthorn climbed 27.7 per cent over the year to June, according to Domain Group data, achieving a median of $2,116,500. 

In Malvern, a buyer with very deep pockets inked a post-auction deal for a mansion which was expected to sell for about $6 million.

A scarcity of high-end properties for sale has tempted vendors to send their luxury homes to public auctions, expecting strong competition.

Marshall White auctioneer Justin Long received only one $50,000 rise for 52 Elizabeth Street, after a $5.7 million vendor bid, and passed it in.

The property sold after auction for an undisclosed amount.