The hopeful buyers traded rapid-fire offers for,which had a price guide of $2.2 million to $2.3 million.
The auction opened with an offer of $2.18 million,which was topped by a bid of $2.2 million,and then a flurry of $25,000 raises took it to the sale price within seven bids.
The auction was over within a few minutes and the house sold to a family from neighbouring Mentone,through Hodges Sandringham auctioneer Nick Jones.
A third interested buyer never even got the chance to raise his hand,given how quickly the price rose,Jones said.
“It was great to get the property sold today,” he said,given the large number of homes buyers had to choose from this weekend.
The crowd watches on for the auction at 20 Gareth Avenue.Eddie Jim
The Beaumaris sale was one of 1263 Melbourne auctions scheduled on Saturday,the city’s busiest auction day since October. By evening,Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 63.7 per cent from 939 reported results,while 95 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Prahran,a renovated single-fronted Victorian-style home sold for $3,886,000 after five bidders competed for the keys.
A buyer’s advocate was the winning bidder,purchasing for a mystery client who paid well above the $3.3 million reserve.
Bidding on the three-bedroom home at opened at $3 million,the bottom of the $3 million to $3.25 million guide,and increases of $25,000,$10,000,and $5000 followed.
Kay&Burton partner Tom Staughton said optimism had returned to the Melbourne market. More homes were being listed for sale,he said,and there has also been an increase in buyer demand. “I definitely think there’s a bit of a positive vibe out there.”
In Sandringham,a three-bedroom fixer-upper sold for $1.45 million.
The long-held family home at,which had a $1 million to $1.1 million guide,attracted a crowd of around 100 people for the sale. Bidding opened with a vendor’s bid of $950,000,before five buyers competed,upping offers in $25,000 increments.
The home,which needed a lot of work to fix its kitchen and bathroom,was called on the market at $1,125,000,but more bids of $25,000 followed,before offers slowed to $10,000 and $5000 increments.
The winning bid was made by a woman who first inspected the house on Thursday. She now plans to renovate the property,Ray White Carnegie auctioneer Tom Grieve said.
Grieve said the property was a deceased estate and had been held in the same family since 1969. The house was almost original,with bright-green kitchen tiles,green and yellow walls,and window trim in some rooms.
He said the home had been very popular with buyers,including first-timers,as it had an entry-level price guide for the area.
The kitchen featured bright-green tiles.Ray White Carnegie
Sandringham recorded a median house price of $1,952,500 last year on Domain data.
“We’re thrilled with the result given how small the block is and how much work the house needs,” Grieve said. “You’re really limited with what you can do with it.”
Agents said the high volume of auctions on Saturday would be a true test of the Melbourne market.
In Williamstown,a five-bedroom,double-fronted Victorian home was snapped up by a young family for $2,577,000,after they made a final $1000 bid increase to seal the deal.
The renovated house at had a $2.2 million to $2.3 million price guide,and the Port Melbourne buyers were one of five bidders competing for the keys.
Williams Real Estate’s John Limperis said bidding opened at the top end of the guide at $2.3 million,before a flurry of $25,000 offers followed. Bidding then slowed to $10,000 and $5000 increments,with a few $1000 bids thrown in for good measure before the fall of the gavel.
“There was a massive crowd at the auction of around 100 people,” Limperis said.
“There have been heaps of people out and about today – including for open-for-inspections – it really seems to be picking up over the past few weeks.”