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A first home buyer couple paid $1,215,000 at auction for a three-bedroom, tri-level townhouse in Northcote on Saturday.
The home at 4/2 McCracken Avenue has clever clerestory windows and a pine kitchen, and had a price guide of between $1,075,000 and $1,175,000.
The property was one of 588 properties scheduled for auction across 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preliminary auction clearance rate of 57 per cent from 386 reported results throughout the week, while 71 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Selling agent Matthew Akritidis from Nelson Alexander in Northcote said the townhouse sale was a “competitive auction”.
“It went back and forth between two registered bidders, two first home buyer couples,” he said.
The auction opened with a bid of $1,050,000 and increased in $10,000 increments and then bids of $2000 towards the end. The reserve for the townhouse was $1,150,000.
There was a third interested party, also a couple after their first home, but they weren’t “able to get a bid in”, Akritidis said.
The contemporary, turnkey property is close to High Street, which proved a good selling point.
“It was also a unique townhouse in the Northcote market,” Akritidis said.
“It had a high-calibre finish and lots of natural light from the north-facing position.”
The vendors are a young family upsizing in Northcote.
In Altona, a three-bedroom house on a 630-square-metre block was passed in at auction for $890,000.
The home at 3 Karingal Street had a price guide of $880,000 to $940,000 and a reserve of $930,000.
Listing agent William Pendlebury from Known Real Estate said he was surprised by the result, as he believed the property would sell.
“There were a few interested parties, including a family and a developer, but on the day, they were on the fence,” he said.
Only one bidder put their hand up, a young couple who “want to do some work” on the home.
“They bid $890,000, and then it was passed in,” Pendlebury said.
“We are currently in negotiations with the bidders and the other parties and expect it to sell in the coming days.”
The seller is moving into aged care.
The brick home is “solid and on a good-sized block of land. It is also close to the station,” Pendlebury said. “It does need some work, but it has a lot of potential.”
In Ascot Vale, an entry-level home near the Maribyrnong River sold at auction for $999,000.
The three-bedroom home at 37 Walter Street had a price guide of $950,000 to $1,045,000.
Selling agent Louis Saba from Harcourts Coburg said the property had a “fluctuating reserve”.
“It was initially $1,050,000, and then on the day of the auction, it changed to $1,015,000. The sellers were being flexible with the market,” he said.
There were two active bidders: the underbidder, a man looking to renovate the property, and the successful bidder, a woman purchasing the property for her adult son.
“The mum already lives in Ascot Vale and wanted him to live close by, so there was an emotional pull to the property,” Saba said.
Bidding opened at $800,000, followed by a vendor bid of $900,000. Saba said “$800,000 was far too low”.
The bidding increased to $950,000, then slowed, and at $980,000, the renovator dropped out, the agent said, which left the mother and son. “She offered the amount needed to secure the property,” Saba said.
“The son really loved the street.”
LJ Hooker’s head of research, Mathew Tiller, said Melbourne’s auction clearance rate “isn’t the best, but not the worst either”.
“It shows there is still buyer demand, and people are attending open homes, auctions, and are committed to bidding,” he said.
Tiller said the number of listings on the market has softened.
“I think sellers are reacting to the uncertainty in the market, and if they don’t need to list the home, they aren’t, or if they have listed and not getting the price they want, they are withdrawing rather than continuing with the campaign,” he said.
Tiller expected it would be “more of the same” for the next few months.
