A Victorian home in Moonee Ponds with an elegant renovation passed in at auction on Saturday and later sold for $2,817,500 after the vendors cut their price hopes.
The five-bedroom house at 58 Vine Street has arched windows and hallway arches, a marble kitchen, a reading nook and an entertaining deck with a barbecue.
The property was one of 710 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 58 per cent from 508 reported results throughout the week, while 78 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
It was the final weekend before new auction rules, starting on October 16, will make it compulsory to publish the vendor’s reserve price a week before auction.
The Moonee Ponds house was listed with a price guide of $2.7 million to $2.9 million.
Proceedings began with a vendor bid of $2.6 million, followed by a genuine bid of $2.62 million.
Two bidders pushed the price in mostly $20,000 increments until it reached $2.78 million.
But after a rise of $10,000, the price stalled at $2.79 million and the home passed in.
The reserve was $2.85 million but the vendors, who are moving to Queensland, were willing to meet the market. The buyer is a local upsizer and the underbidder was a family.
McDonald Upton selling agent Georgie Maggs said the home was renovated in the past 12 months, as the vendors had intended to stay.
“The opportunity to get a turnkey home under $3 million in Moonee Ponds is becoming pretty rare these days,” she said.
“This home would have sold for more in a better market. There is definitely value there. The buyer bought well but the vendor had an opportunity there, so it was a commercial decision for them.”
Maggs said the market was in a transition phase before the new auction rules. She said interest rate rises and the rising cost of living were putting a ceiling on buyer budgets, and she noted the state election due next month.
“I would describe the market as patchy. I think these turnkey family properties are still performing quite well,” she said.
In Yarraville, a converted shopfront home drew three bidders and surpassed its reserve to sell for $1,265,000 at auction.
The three-bedroom home at 55 Ballarat Street has an open-plan living and dining area that leads to a timber deck and lush courtyard. Its price guide was $1.1 million to $1.2 million.
Bidding began at the bottom of the price range and rose at pace to the top of the range, which was also the reserve price, but then it slowed.
An owner-occupier moving from regional Victoria who has family in the inner west landed the keys. The underbidder was a family looking to downsize and move to the area, while the third bidder was a first home buyer. The vendors are downsizing.
Jas Stephens Real Estate selling agent Elise Nemer said the shopfront-style home was “very unique, they don’t come up that often”.
“The market is really good. Properties are still selling. We are still having buyers coming through,” she said.
In neighbouring Kingsville, a renovated three-bedroom cottage passed in at auction and sold after for $1.34 million.
The three-bedroom house at 124 Chirnside Street had a price guide of $1,275,000 to $1,375,000.
A downsizer made a bid of $1.3 million. It was countered with a vendor bid of $1.32 million.
But the reserve was $1.34 million and with no more bids forthcoming, the home passed in.
It sold in post-auction negotiations at the reserve price. The vendors had previously lived in the property but had leased it out in recent years.
Village Real Estate selling agent Raymond Abilameh had expected a one-buyer auction, although a mix of downsizers, young professionals and families were interested during the sales campaign.
He said homes like this were transacting well, albeit without as many bidders as in the past.
“Renovated properties in good locations, they still seem to be transacting well,” he said.
“The unrenovated stock, that seems to be the stuff that is struggling more.”