Snap lockdown: Nervous vendors rewarded after Melbourne home sells for $175,000 over reserve online
Melbourne’s auction market appeared to shrug off the effects of the snap, five-day coronavirus-related lockdown imposed by the state government on Friday afternoon.
But it was not before a mad scramble by agents, vendors and buyers to ensure auctions could go ahead online.
The lockdown was the third imposed on the property market in Victoria in the past 12 months, and resulted in on-site auctions and inspections banned as part of a bid to stop the spread of the UK variant of COVID-19.
Agents reported working into the wee hours of the morning, either shifting the date of auction scheduled for this weekend or moving the process entirely online.
By the end of the weekend, Melbourne’s preliminary auction clearance rate sat at 75.4 per cent after 698 auctions were scheduled and 439 results reported.
There were 92 properties withdrawn and these were counted as not sold as part of the clearance rate, and 180 properties sold before auction.
The clearance rate included auctions brought forward to Friday night, when they could still be held on-site.
Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said agents, buyers and sellers had proven to be agile by working online throughout the lockdowns in Melbourne.
“I think they are well versed in having auctions online,” Dr Powell said. “And, I think the silver lining, if you can call it that, is the fact that serious buyers would have been known before the announcement on Friday. They were then working within that strong buyer pool they had anyway.”
She said although some buyers turn up to an auction on the day, most who make serious bids are known to the agents.
In Melbourne’s inner east, a four-bedroom home at 1 Narrak Road, Balwyn, sold under the virtual hammer for $2.75 million – $175,000 above the reserve.
It was a great result for the vendors who nervously went ahead with the sale online on Saturday, Marshall White Boroondara partner and auctioneer Doug McLauchlan said.
Agents moved quickly to reassure the vendors and set up the sale online, he said.
“We were going to public auction but we had to change tack,” Mr McLauchlan said. “We moved very quickly and let absolutely everyone know it was going to be done via Zoom.
“It’s full credit to the vendors and agents on the sale given the added stress from Friday afternoon’s announcement, and having their plans upset at the 11th hour. They kept their cool.”
There were four bidders fighting it out for the keys, which went to a family who wanted to be in the Balwyn High School zone.
“The vendors were delighted given the added stress,” Mr McLauchlan said. “We have seen the market stay strong and it has bounced back from the many lockdowns last year.”
In Aberfeldie in Melbourne’s north-west, a two-bedroom home at 61 Vida Street sold online for $1.49 million, above the $1.35 million reserve.
Nelson Alexander selling agent John Matthews said the agency had to change auctions to Zoom after Friday’s announcement.
The home, which was sold as a deceased estate, had been in the same family since 1978.
“We had to make sure we gave comfort to the vendors by making a quick change,” Mr Matthews said. “The good thing is because we’ve been through it before we knew what to do.”
The auction attracted five registered bidders, and the buyer plans to tear down and rebuild on the 483-square-metre block.
“The rear of the property has city views,” Mr Matthews said.
Mr Matthews also sold a four-bedroom home at 16 Woodruff Avenue, Maribyrnong, on Saturday via Zoom.
The home, which had a guide of $1.35 million to $1.45 million, sold under the virtual hammer for $1,525,000. “That was on a 360-square-metre block, so it’s a big result for what it was,” he said.
The buyer had been renting in the area and was looking for a permanent home.
Not too far from Maribyrnong, in Ascot Vale, a three-bedroom house at 15 Fenton Street sold under the virtual hammer for $1,415,000, against a $1.35 million reserve.
Fourteen bidders registered online, and four of these bid actively.
Jellis Craig Kensington director and auctioneer John Morello said an opening bid of $1.25 million set the scene for the sale.
“It sold to investors, which was really interesting,” Mr Morello said. “The underbidders were both empty nesters looking to downsize.”
Like many agents, Mr Morello said they worked quickly to change this sale to online.
“We actually had a very late night getting all the logistics down with the changes,” he said. “I think the market has become accustomed to buying things differently.”
In Blackburn South, in the city’s east, a three-bedroom home at 63 Eley Road sold online for a very specific $999,999.
The home had expectations between $850,000 and $900,000, Ray White Oakleigh senior agent and auctioneer Jonathon Eaves said.
Eight bidders registered online, and six of them bid. Mr Eaves said the buyer had been through the home on several times before making his unusual winning bid on Saturday.
Ray White was already running a hybrid of online and on-site auctions, with agents moving those auctions entirely online on Friday evening, Mr Eaves said.
“Because some people still do have a fear of crowds, we just ran online auctions all the way through [from last year],” he said. “People are fine with bidding online — they’ve just adapted to it, which is good.”
Despite the lockdown, Mr Eaves said there was a “definite thirst” among people to buy property.
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