The four-bedroom house atis set to be knocked down,as the new owners hope to rebuild a house on the large 1016-square-metre block,Marshall White Balwyn director William Chen said.
Bidding opened at $2.9 million and the auction lasted for 45 minutes. By the time the home was declared on the market at $3.2 million,just two of the six families were still in the running. The price guide was $2.9 million to $3.19 million.
Chen said buyers were drawn to the house because of its location in the popular Balwyn High School catchment zone.
Records show the vendors bought the home for $2,638,000 in 2015. Chen said they would still be living in the Balwyn area.
It was one of 359 auctions scheduled for Saturday,a lower than usual volume due to the Labour Day long weekend. By evening,Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.1 per cent from 234 reported results,while 14 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said the Melbourne property market would face a significant test before Easter.
“It’s always dangerous to read too much into results from a long weekend,” said Oliver.
“The broader trend towards Melbourne is softening,” he said,noting the clearance rate from the previous weekend had been revised down to 60.4 per cent by Domain.
“The next couple of weeks will be quite critical to see how the market is handling what,I think,is some distressed listing and still high interest rates,” Oliver said.
In Templestowe Lower,the vendors of a four-bedroom house decided to take advantage of the quieter long weekend,when buyers had fewer homes to choose from,rather than opting for the busy lead-up to Easter.
The auction for opened with a vendor bid of $1.6 million,followed by a second vendor bid of $1.62 million when the crowd remained silent.
But Barry Plant Manningham director Mark Di Giulio was confident there were three buyers willing to participate,and they eventually did,raising the price in $10,000 increments to surpass the $1.67 million reserve,within the price guide of $1.59 million to $1.69 million. The house sold for $1,748,500.
Di Giulio said many vendors traditionally avoided auctions on a long weekend because they felt interested buyers could be away.
“[But] if you want to buy a house,it doesn’t really matter when[the auction is],” he said.
In Melbourne’s south-east,three families competed for a turn-key property in Cheltenham that sold for $1,702,000.
Jellis Craig Bentleigh agent Nick Renna said the auction for attracted interest from local families,one of whom was represented by a buyer’s advocate.
The price guide for the house was $1.5 million to $1.6 million and the first bid was made at the top of the range.
“At $1.6 million,the owners would sell it. Then,I didn’t get a chance to call it on the market until $1.65 million. It got up there pretty aggressively,” said Renna.
A young family were the successful buyers of the four-bedroom house.
In Elwood,two young owner-occupiers competed for a two-bedroom Art Deco apartment at,which sold for $678,000.
The property had a price guide of $660,000 to $690,000 and the reserve price was within the range at $675,000.
The auction kicked off with an opening bid of $600,000 and quick back-and-forth bidding between two interested buyers followed,said Saint and Wood principal Alicia Kate.
“It was good to have a turnout of a few people even on a stifling day,” said Kate.
The home’s Art Deco features and location were among the drawcards for buyers.
“Glen Huntly Road has great access to the city,so it’s great for commuting,” she said.
The vendors of the apartment had lived in the property and plan to upsize in the local area.