Young couple win keys to $937,000 apartment in bayside suburb

A plush, two-bedroom apartment with bay views in Port Melbourne sold for $937,000 following a bidding war at auction on Saturday.

The inner south-east unit at 100/1 Graham Street, which features a walk-in-robe and two-car parking, was guided at $880,000 to $920,000.

It was on sale for the first time since it was built 25 years ago and had a reserve of $910,000.

The auction, led by Jellis Craig Port Phillip auctioneer Simon Gowling, was slow to start as buyers hesitated to bid.

Gowling opened with a vendor’s bid of $880,000, and was soon asked by two members of the public if the property was on the market. Replying no, he nearly passed the auction in before the first bidder, a young couple, offered $890,000.

A second bidder jumped in at $895,000, and was quickly countered by the couple at $900,000.

Gowling called the property on the market at $920,000 after which the two bidders fought in increments of $500 until the young couple placed the final bid of $937,000.

Agent Cheyne Fox said the underbidder, a father who was bidding on behalf of his daughter, a first home buyer, was being very conservative.

“With looming interest rate rises, every $500 counts,” she said. The purchasers were also first home buyers who had inspected the unit a couple of times, and were excited to move to Port Melbourne.

The property was one of 1244 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week.

A family looking to downsize has won the keys to a four-bedroom Strathmore house after placing the winning bid of $1,972,000 at auction.

The home at 272 Napier Street, situated on a 646sqm block, was listed for $1.8 million to $1,925,000.

Nelson Alexander Essendon lead agent and auctioneer Ryan Currie said the auction, which had three bidders, opened with a bid of $1.8 million after a slow start.

“It got to $1.85 million fairly quickly, then everyone just stood back. I went in and consulted the vendor at half-time. I came back out and placed a vendor bid of $1.9 million and then the bidding came quite quickly up to 1.93,” he said.

The reserve was $1,940,000. There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

The buyers were a couple downsizing from an acre, Currie said, who have always wanted to live in the area.

The vendors, a young family, were upsizing and had recently bought locally. They were selling to fund renovations.

Earlier, a young first home buyer paid $50,000 over reserve for the keys to a two-bedroom home in Melbourne’s inner south-west, outbidding three other parties in a rapid-fire auction.

The villa at 1/25 Hope Street, Spotswood, with a price guide of $600,000 to $660,000, features a study nook and paved courtyard.

Agent George Alexander, of Jas Stephens Real Estate, said the buyer, a “young girl looking to owner-occupy for the first time … bought it from the ladies that had been there for decades” for $720,000. The property’s reserve was $670,000.

The auction, which opened with a genuine bid of $600,000, attracted mainly first home buyers.Alexander added that homes which are renovated, presented well and priced right “have got a lot of demand”.

In Watsonia, in Melbourne’s north-east, a couple buying their first home snapped up a four-bedroom house for $1,146,000.

Featuring multiple living zones across two levels and a sizable backyard, the house at 10 Medbury Avenue was guided at $950,000 to $1 million, with a reserve of $1 million.

Darren Jones Real Estate auctioneer and lead agent Ashley Croall said the auction, while slow to begin, gained momentum until the low millions, with five parties bidding.

The buyers were a young couple who had been looking for six months, Croall said, and had missed out on a “few homes across the journey”.

Croall echoed Alexander’s views of the market, saying demand was greatest for “homes that are nicely renovated”.

He said while a potential interest rate rise next week and global economic instability were dampening some buyer confidence, “if you were buying a house in February, you’re probably buying a house in May”.