Melbourne auctions: Sandringham home sells for more than $220,000 above reserve as auctions head online
A Commonwealth Games gold medallist sold her Sandringham home in an online auction for $2.02 million on Saturday, well above the price guide despite Melbourne’s latest lockdown.
Sarah Fitz-Gerald, a five-times squash world champion, two-time British Open champion and Order of Australia medallist, was thrilled but emotional about the sale of 35 Spring Street, the home she grew up in and later bought from her parents.
Hours before the lockdown was announced, there were 1228 auctions scheduled in Melbourne for Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 67.9 per cent from 517 reported results while 129 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The three-bedroom house, owned by the family for 57 years, sold for $220,000 above the top of its $1.7 million to $1.8 million asking price range.
A young couple bought the property and now hope to build their dream home.
Marshall White Bayside selling agent Kylie Charlton said there were three bidders, with 30 people registered to watch the sale online.
“There were really another three people who just didn’t get the chance to bid,” Ms Charlton said.
In Melbourne’s east, a young family beat stiff competition to pay $1.3 million for a Blackburn South house with scope for renovation. The final price was $190,000 above the reserve.
The auction of 14 Crimson Avenue had already been delayed by two weeks thanks to the previous lockdown, but it was no deterrent to buyers for the four-bedroom family home.
Bidding kicked off at $800,000 for the 1970s-style home, listed with a price guide of $1 million to $1.1 million. The second bid lifted the price to $1 million, and six parties fought it out in mostly $10,000 and $5000 increments.
OBrien Real Estate agent Anthony Molinaro said the winners plan to live in the home and may make some upgrades.
“The market is still quite buoyant, even if it is online,” Mr Molinaro said. “Not enough stock on the market and buyers are realising through lockdown, this is where they want to be, or this is not where they want to be.”
First-home buyers were also in the market, logging into several virtual auctions in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
A three-bedroom home at 1/14 Maxwell Street, Lalor sold quickly after two bidders competed. The home was sold to a first-home buyer after just six bids.
Bidding opened at $550,000, and the property, owned by an investor for five years, sold for $580,000.
A first-home buyer also snapped up a four-bedroom home at 14 Koukoura Drive, Epping, for $582,500 after just four bids.
Harcourts Rata & Co director Daniel Taylor said the auctions had been quick, with buyers being far more decisive about what they wanted as they endured another lockdown.
“There has been a lot less chit chat and mucking around during these auctions,” Mr Taylor said. “It does tend to run fairly smoothly because we’re pretty used to them now.”
One of the biggest results for the weekend was in Malvern, in the city’s east, where a three-bedroom home at 9 Dixon Street sold for $4,565,000 to a family wanting to live in the area.
The house sold well above $4.25 million when it was declared on the market.
Marshall White director and auctioneer John Bongiorno would not comment on the price but said it was a competitive auction and one of the standouts for the day despite its hasty shift online.
“This lockdown really did leave agents and vendors scrambling, and we’re really still working things out at the moment,” Mr Bongiorno said.
While buyers were keen, some held their cards very close to their chest and did not bid at all.
A home at 70 York Street, Richmond – in the same family for more than 50 years – was passed in without receiving a single bid.
Though three bidders had registered, they did not raise their hands after a vendor bid of $1.25 million was made. That bid was at the low end of the price range, which was between $1.25 million and $1.35 million.
Biggin & Scott Richmond director and auctioneer Edward Hobbs said the family had decided to go ahead with the sale of the double-fronted Victorian terrace online after previous auctions were delayed because of the lockdowns.
He expected the home to sell post-auction, with all three buyers still interested in making an offer.
“They’re just trying to get a bargain, and there are opportunistic buyers out there during lockdowns,” Mr Hobbs said.
In Hawthorn, a townhouse sold under the virtual hammer for $1.6 million, above the $1.475 million level where it was called on the market.
The three bedroom home at 9/1 Muir Street was bought by a downsizing couple who stated they were “not there to bid” before the auction started, Kay & Burton Hawthorn director Scott Patterson said.
“They had a change of heart which they were laughing about at the end of it,” Mr Patterson said. “They have an adult child living at home still and bought it so they can all live in it.”
The underbidder was based in the US and had an advocate bidding on their behalf, but they were watching the action unfold online, he said.
“It was good fun and just shows how quickly everyone can pivot and still get a really healthy result,” Mr Patterson said.
A Victorian home in Hawthorn fetched a strong result amid competition from a local upgrader, a renter and a couple who had just seen it.
Buyer’s agent Emma Bloom of Morrell and Koren attended the online auction of 13 Elphin Grove, which sold for $3.4 million through Jellis Craig’s Richard Winneke.
It sold well above the price guide of $2.85 million to $3.05 million, which she noted had already been lifted during the campaign.
“Buyers are riddled with anxiety and frustration and hope,” Ms Bloom said, noting the uncertainty over how often in-person inspections would be possible in the next few months with Melbourne likely to bounce in and out of lockdown.
“Prices are still very buoyant. Buyers are walking away scratching their heads.”
While vendors were mostly happy to sell online, some of the planned auctions sold prior. That included one at 9 Suerulla Court, Rowville which had an offer too good to refuse just before it was due to sell at a Google Hangouts auction on Saturday morning.
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Matthew Condon told disappointed registered bidders the four bedroom home was under contract, after they had logged in. It had a price guide between $930,000 and $990,000.
- With Elizabeth Redman
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