A local couple paid $896,000 for a North Melbourne townhouse, outbidding two other first home buyer couples for the keys to the split-level home.
The two-bedroom residence at 2/60 Courtney Street is spread across three levels and features a garage room, a bathroom and an open-plan living room that flows seamlessly onto the terrace.
The auction started with a bid of $770,000 as savvy buyers tried to get in under the $820,000 reserve. Independent auctioneer Jack Cooper accepted the bid but called for the next offer to be “somewhere in the 800,000s”.
He was instead offered a bid of $2000, which he declined.
“I wanted a little higher given the guide,” he said to a silent crowd.
As he started to count down, a second bidder offered $820,000, which soon escalated into a flurry of bids ranging from $1000 to $10,000 until the $851,000 mark, at which a third bidder entered the fray.
From there, the second and third bidder fought until the $896,000 mark, where the second bidder stopped.
Jellis Craig Kensington lead agent Zach Sianos said the buyers were a local couple looking to upsize. The underbidders were another young first home buyer couple, who had dad bid on their behalf.
Sianos said the vendors were a family with young children who had bought the house as their first home, and since outgrown it.
Sianos said properties in the first home buyer market were still selling despite the cash rate increases.
“It’s just price-sensitive ... properties with sensible reserves are still performing well,” he said. “Properties under a million dollars have got some good momentum at the moment.”
The property was one of 676 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week.
Earlier, an Edwardian home in Surrey Hills, in Melbourne’s leafy east, sold for $200,000 above reserve, with a couple fighting off three other bidders to secure their city residence.
The four-bedroom house at 14 Norris Street was listed with a reserve price of $2.06 million. Featuring coloured leadlight glass, an arched hallway and high ceilings, the home is close to schools and other amenities.
Marshall White Boroondara lead agent Julian Papas said auction proceedings began with a vendor’s bid of $1.9 million, which was soon countered by a genuine bid of $1.92 million.
From there, the first and second bidders – both owner-occupiers – battled in increments of $20,000 before breaking down in $10,000s. At the $2 million mark, a third bidder entered the auction, after which the bids went up in increments of $5000, until a final bidder won with an offer of $2.26 million.
“It was purchased by a family with adult children who have a residence on the Bellarine Peninsula and are going to be splitting their time between Melbourne and the Bellarine,” Papas said.
The underbidder was a downsizer moving from a larger parcel of land in the eastern suburbs.
Papas said the vendor also has a house on the Bellarine Peninsula, but decided to scale down in Melbourne.
The vendor refinished the floors, added new carpets and repainted the home to make it more live-ready, which helped attract a much larger pool of buyers.
In Balaclava, in the inner south-east, a brand-new home passed in at auction on a vendor’s bid of $2 million.
The four-bedroom house at 50 Rosamond Street features two master suites with en suite and walk-in robes, and was listed with a reserve of $2.2 million.
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Stonnington lead agent Will Hocking said the auction had attracted a few parties, including a local investor and Queenslanders looking to relocate to Melbourne. Some parties had registered and some turned up on the day.
While the house passed in on a vendor’s bid of $2 million, Hocking said he would now speak to the interested parties before looking to re-auction the house before the end of the year.
The property is an investment, which was a project of a local man.
Hocking said the biggest issue in the $2 million-plus market was low stock, due to rising interest rates and the upcoming state election in Victoria.
“Stock levels are down dramatically, and transaction volumes above $2 million are down 50 per cent compared to last year,” he said. “There are buyers out there, stuff is still selling, but the stock is the issue.”
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