Bargain auction sales: The cheapest properties that sold on the weekend, from $335k
A two-bedroom house on a 300-square-metre block in Melbourne’s west sold at auction at the weekend for $472,000 – less than half Melbourne’s median house price of $1,039,460.
The listing agent of 8 Ventosa Way, Werribee, Kiarah Bagnato of YPA Estate Agents Wyndham City, says she was not surprised by the result, which was $30,000 above the reserve price.
“We had the idea to run to auction from the get-go to get an unconditional contract,” she says.
“We had so many people coming back for second and third inspections, and we also had a lot of people wanting to put in offers before [the auction], but the vendors believed in their price and it worked out really well.”
The property, which had a price range of $400,000 to $440,000, was eventually snapped up in a fast-paced auction by a first-home buyer.
“It all wrapped up within 10 minutes or so; the bids were so quick,” Bagnato says.
The property had been built and owned by one family and was structurally in great condition, which appealed to prospective buyers.
However, it was the rarity of the property type (a standalone house), the block size (300 square metres) and its affordable price tag that attracted in the crowds.
“You can’t really get a whole lot obviously for that kind [of property] for under $500,000,” Bagnato says.
“The most obvious thing we get from buyers is, ‘We’ve got $500,000 to $550,000 to spend, what can we buy?’ and there’s very rarely a lot that they can buy [so they] end up buying units.
“Whereas this one wasn’t a unit, it was a standalone home. It was on 300 square meters. It did have kind of everything that a first-time buyer or downsizer would want, so it definitely appealed to a lot of the market.”
Domain’s auction results for the weekend reveal 2786 auctions were scheduled and 1251 homes were sold across the nation.
The five most affordable properties were the house at 8 Ventosa Way, Werribee ($472,000), and units in Fairfield ($335,000), Tullamarine ($360,000), Elsternwick ($375,000) and Sunshine West ($440,000).
The most affordable property sold nationwide was a one-bedroom unit for $335,000 at 10/11 Rathmines Street, Fairfield, in Melbourne’s north-east.
Fairfield flanks some of Melbourne’s most tightly held neighbourhoods, including Kew, where the median house price is $1.4 million and the median unit price is $540,000.
The unit was snapped up by a first-home buyer couple who were drawn to the property for its location and the natural light that pours into the apartment, the latter of which is typically rare for one-bedroom units, says listing agent Brad Pearce of Miles Real Estate Ivanhoe.
“When you’re buying an apartment, it’s incredibly important that it’s north facing so that you can capture the light – because one-bedroom apartments can be quite dark sometimes, and [this one] had good light coming in the meals area as well as the lounge room,” Pearce says.
The buyers had not inspected the property before the auction.
“They turned up on the day and thought that it was a good one, and thought they’d buy it,” Pearce says.
The apartment’s location was also key when it came to the sale. It’s a six-minute walk from Fairfield station and the suburb’s much-loved strip of shops on Station Street.
“It’s near parkland, Yarra Park, Fairfield boathouse and the train; it’s a good convenient spot,” Pearce says.
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