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A North Melbourne pub conversion has sold for $1,016,000 at auction, after three bidders attracted to the home’s location and style pushed the price past its reserve.
The two-bedroom house at 2 Byron Street is one of three built from the old Star of Hotham hotel, but is on its own title. The home features high ceilings in the bedrooms, a small courtyard at the rear and is on a corner block.
Lucas Mills Real Estate auctioneer and selling agent Lucas Mills listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $890,000 to $950,000. He said the three bidders on Saturday were all first home buyers.
“Look, it’s an incredible location,” he said. “This pocket of North Melbourne is the sweet spot of where everyone wants to be, being that position between Errol Street and the Vic Market and close to hospitals and universities, etc,” he said. “So it’s the location, the corner position, the heritage details of the property.”
The auction began with a bid of $900,000 and the price quickly passed the reserve of $950,000. Mills said the home was well priced for first home buyers.
“There were a lot of first-time buyers [with interest] up to $950,000,” he said. “There was a lot of interest in the range, understandably, because it’s a nice property.”
Lucas Mills auctions 2 Byron Street. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
It was one of 1136 auctions scheduled for Saturday in Melbourne.
In Eltham, a four-bedroom house sold under the hammer for $1.66 million.
The home at 68 Livingston Road sits on a large block and has several separate living areas throughout. Jellis Craig selling agent Tom Kurtschenko listed it for sale with a quoted price range of $1.55 million to $1.65 million.
“It’s a beautiful character home and is on 1300 square metres, which is a larger size land holding for here as well,” he said. “It was renovated inside and had some nice views out back.”
The auction began with a bid at the bottom of the range. Kurtschenko said two bidders competed, both families, and the reserve was set at $1.6 million.
Public records show the home last traded hands in 2022 for $1,555,000; Kurtschenko said he was happy the vendors were able to sell for a nominal profit.
“It was interesting when you look at the history of the home,” he said. “It did sell for [$1,555,000] a couple of years ago. There’s been a few over the last few years where people have been selling for less than their purchase price. People were paying too much.”
In Frankston North, an investor beat first home buyers to buy a three-bedroom brick house.
The home at 245 Frankston-Dandenong Road was listed for sale by OBrien selling agent Mark Burke. He gave the home a quoted price range of $638,000 to $701,800.
The house was a rental, and was sold with lapsed plans to build a second home at the rear of the property.
The auction began with a bid of $650,000 and Burke said four bidders competed. He said the vendor was happy to sell the home for about $680,000; the investor paid $700,000 to win the title.
Burke said the buyer was considering renewing the second-home plans. “Because they had just expired, you can go back to the council and get it initiated for about $600,” he said. “I think the bloke is going to build it so he can rent out two homes instead of one.”
Home buyers were being choosy, Burke said, but might find themselves facing more competition come October, when the federal government’s expanded first home guarantee scheme came into effect.
“The market is good, but people do handpick things a bit,” he said. “They look at location and facilities and things like that, but the market’s hot, and when it hits October with that 5 per cent scheme from the government, it’s going to pop like popcorn.”
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