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An updated Californian bungalow nestled between Thornbury’s High and Station streets sold for $1.85 million at auction on Saturday, pushed $50,000 above its reserve by three bidders.
The three-bedroom recently renovated home at 154 Gooch Street features spacious open-plan entertaining, a separate studio and lush established gardens, all a 10-minute walk from the cafes of High Street, ranked the coolest street in the world by Time Out magazine in 2024.
It had a price guide of $1.7 million to $1.75 million, and a reserve of $1.8 million. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
The property was one of 588 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 57 per cent from 386 reported results throughout the week, while 71 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The clearance rate remains below the 60 per cent threshold generally considered a balanced market – it was 67 per cent at this time last year. While there is generally a reduction in properties going to auction in winter, some agents said stock was down even further than expected, and a third as many auctions were scheduled last week compared with this year’s March peak.
Jellis Craig Northcote agent and auctioneer Luke Brizzi thought 154 Gooch Street had appealed to buyers, even now, because people “buy on feel”. He said prospective buyers had commented how comfortable the home felt.
The auction opened at $1.7 million, jumping up in $20,000 increments before hitting the $1.8 million reserve, then trickling down to $10,000 and $5000 bids before selling to a local family.
Brizzi said the underbidders were also a local family, with the third bidder an older woman competing on behalf of her children, who are based in New York.
“They recognised it was a good time to buy,” Brizzi said, and were hoping to pick up a property now for when they moved back to Australia.
The vendors bought the home in 2020 for $1.69 million, and were moving to be closer to family.
Brizzi said while the market was down overall, “in that $1 million to $2 million range there are still a lot of people interested”.
On Sunday, a three-bedroom brick house on a deep block in Seabrook sold for $740,000, with a local owner-occupier beating an interstate investor to move closer to her daughter.
Sharing a fence with Kingfisher Drive Reserve, 17 Seaside Close was being sold by its downsizing owners at what Ray White Point Cook agent Ash Mahajan said was “a bit less than others in the area” because it was probably in need of an update.
“It wanted around $30,000 to $40,000 of touch-ups,” he said. The property had a price guide of $696,000 to $765,000 and a reserve of $735,000.
Auctioneer Amar Thakkar opened the auction at $690,000, just below the guide. Three bidders pushed the price up in $10,000 increments. The auction then slowed to $5000 bids and came to a close at just over the reserve.
Mahajan said the home had sold well due to the limited amount of stock in the area, and the realistic expectations of the older vendors, who were ready to move.
“They didn’t want to spend anything, and were ... happy to let it go, whatever they got on the day,” he said.
A three-bedroom house in Box Hill North, in original 1970s condition, sold for $960,000 at auction on Saturday, with two bidders nudging it just past its $950,000 reserve.
On a 532-square-metre corner block, 18 Woodhouse Grove had a price guide of $900,000 to $990,000, adjusted down from an original $1 million to $1.1 million in late June.
CHN agent and auctioneer Calvin Chan said the vendors were moving into aged care and while the home was immaculately preserved, he thought that had limited its appeal to buyers who were willing to “spend some money and make it their own”.
Chan said bidding opened at $900,000, went up steadily in $5000 increments throughout, and eventually sold for $10,000 above the reserve.
He said the buyers were living in a neighbouring suburb, and saw the opportunity for renovation, as well as its prime position on one of Box Hill North’s main residential streets.
Chan thought that while the market seemed to be down overall, the house had also done well due to the limited supply in the area, with vendors holding back following three consecutive rate increases and the impact of the changes to negative gearing and the capital gains discount announced in the May federal budget – but he was optimistic the market was settling.
“Everyone is aware of those impacts,” he said. “Buyers are, sellers are, agents are, and there seems to have been a price adjustment across the board.”
