October 15, 2016
Plenty of people out enjoying auctions on a beautiful spring day.
With an REIV reported clearance rate of nearly 80% on the weekend, the market for quality offerings continues to gain strength.
With limited stock, buyers may wish to consider how well the property suits them before sticking to a firm budget. If it is a good fit, buyers shouldn’t necessarily assume there will be another one soon, so they need to be prepared to really stretch on auction day – and then probably stretch some more.
We have seen an increase in ‘bought before auction’ properties recently with some strong results. For buyers, this may help with certainty; however, there is also a chance that the price paid may be well above what others may have been prepared to pay on auction day.
Auction Highlights:
- 17 Albany Road Toorak (Darren Lewenberg/Emma Bloom, Kay & Burton) – 3 bed, 3 bath, replica period home with 2 car detached garage – sold well over reserve for $6.25m
- 33 Hawksburn Road South Yarra (Michael Armstrong/Nicole Gleeson, Kay & Burton) – modern two-storey home with good lifestyle options in signature local street – sold (around 20% above reserve) for $5.4m
- 25 Dorrington Avenue Glen Iris (Nathan Waterson/Andrew Luke, Jellis Craig) – practical 1930s home, north-facing rear – sold for $3.85m
Land Sales:
- 67 Sackville Street Kew (Clayton Smith/Svetlana Hudson, Jellis Craig) – 1160sqm north-facing rear in the Sackville Ward – bought after auction for an undisclosed amount above $5.2m or over $4,500sqm
- 37 Dempster Avenue Balwyn North (Jack Peng/Pan Zhang, Fletchers) – 999sqm in prime Balwyn High School zone, sold last Christmas Eve for $1.77m – sold on Saturday for $2.17m or $2,172sqm
- 4 Farmer Street Brighton East (John Clarkson/Bert Stewart, Buxton) – 604sqm west-facing rear, well positioned for St Leonards and Haileybury Colleges – $1.845m or just over $3,000sqm
Off Markets:
- Period home with city views – Hawthorn – circa $6m
- Two-storey, pretty period home – Malvern East – $2.5-2.7m
- Large, newer home – Glen Iris – $3-3.3m
- Modern townhouse – Prahran – $1.4m
- Large French provincial home – Brighton – over $6m
Properties we like, schedule for auction October 29:
33 College Street Hawthorn – George Bushby/Richard Winneke, Jellis Craig
25 Grant Street Malvern East – Gowan Stubbings/Julia de Campo, Kay & Burton
29a Sussex Street Brighton – Campbell Cooney/Tatiana Marcelin, Hodges
5 Westley Street Hawthorn East – Anton Zhouk/Robert Ding, Marshall White
Auction Spotlight:
1/8 Faversham Road Canterbury
1/8 Faversham Road Canterbury (Geordie Dixon/Tom Ryan, Jellis Craig). Sold strongly for $1.68m.
If you ever wanted to know what a great down-sizer property in Boroondara was, 1/8 Faversham Road Canterbury would be a good one to look at.
Low maintenance. Lock up garage. One of two on the block. Single level. No steps. Light and bright inside. It really had it all…….
There was genuine buzz at this auction – no real surprises there. Opening on a genuine crowd bid of $1.1m, auctioneer Peter Batrouney conducted traffic seamlessly between two bidders and there were possibly 5-8 others who just couldn’t get their hands up. The property was announced on the market in the $1.4m’s and sold strongly under the hammer at $1.68m. This all happened in about five minutes. Great campaign for listing and campaign agents Tom Ryan and Geordie Dixon – their vendor would be very pleased with the result.
20 Argo Street Prahran
20 Argo Street Prahran (Peter Perrignon, Hocking Stuart). Four bidders and sold for $1.7m.
In front of a large crowd, auctioneer Peter Perrignon provided a succinct description of the property and the area before launching into auction mode advising. A strong opening bid was made at $1.5m, where he announced that ‘with a bid like that we are clearly on the market and selling. With some time to regroup, a second bidder entered the competition, followed by a third and fourth, before settling at the round figure of $1.7m.
Agent Opinion: “How do you see stock levels for the rest of the year, compared to 2015 and 2014?”
Geordie Dixon, Jellis Craig: We have definitely seen a reduction in property levels and feel they reflect 25-30% from previous years. This is a great market for prospective vendors. Because of this reduced market, buyers are fighting for the one or two properties on offer, delivering some amazing results.
