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Key points
- A Coburg house sold to a young couple for $1.51 million in a hotly contested auction.
- In Kensington, a first home buyer negotiated a deal after a home passed in on a $850,000 bid.
- A unique West Melbourne home with a shopfront also sold for $2.25 million, after passing in on a $2.15 million bid.
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A couple forked out $4.59 million for a luxury home in Glen Iris, a strong weekend result amid reports that Melbourne’s property market has become one of the softest in Australia.
The buyers, who were upgrading, muscled out two other bidders for the five-bedroom home at 7 Clyde Street, bidding $390,000 over the $4.2 million reserve to win the keys.
The property, on a 697 square metre block, includes a pool, wine cellar and an executive study.
It was one of 844 Melbourne properties scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 57.2 per cent, making it the eighth consecutive weekend the city has clocked a clearance rate of 60 per cent or less.
Bidding on the Glen Iris home opened at $3.9 million, which kick-started the hotly contested auction between the three bidders, with offers of $25,000 and then $10,000.
Marshall White Stonnington’s Joanna Nairn said the bidders, all families, were on the hunt for a home close to sought-after schools.
“Right now, there are swathes of demand for good quality homes,” Nairn said. “The sellers are downsizing and they are thrilled with the result.”
The home last sold for $1.3 million in 2005, records show.
While the sale was among a handful of solid results on the weekend, Nairn said low stock levels were continuing to create market challenges.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said while Melbourne’s stock levels were making it tough for home buyers, they were also keeping property prices stable in the weaker market.
“We have seen a bit of softening in active bidding across Melbourne,” Conisbee said. “We saw it drop off in
November and it was one of the few markets that did.
“But that lack of stock is keeping prices steady. The economy is weaker in Melbourne, and I think that’s because the city was hit a lot harder (during COVID),” she said. “This has impacted sentiment, so I do believe it (the softened market) is genuinely for economic reasons.”
In West Melbourne, a shopfront with two townhouses attached at 375 Victoria Street, sold in post-auction negotiations for $2.25 million, after the home passed in on a $2.15 million bid made by a sole bidder during the auction.
The owner-occupier had been looking for a home for the past year, and was happy to buy the property which has potential to be converted into a retail space, or a shopfront with a three-bedroom family home connected.
Nelson Alexander Flemington agent Jayson Watts said the sale was part of a deceased estate, with the vendors owning the property for around 40 years.
“The reserve was $2.25 million … and that was a fairly solid price (for this home),” Watts said. “It needs a bit of work, but it’s on the doorstep of the city.”
In Kensington, Watts also sold a three-bedroom Victorian home at 50 Kensington Road in post-auction negotiations for $865,000 – another sale right on the reserve.
The home passed in to the highest bidder, a first home buyer, who made a $850,000 bid before the property passed in and negotiations began.
It was emotional sale for the vendors, as the home had been in the family for 50 years, Watts said.
“The home was unrenovated, but it’s north-facing, and it has limitless potential,” he said. “It was just the one bidder, and he’d been in the market for 12 months as well.
A three-bedroom home in Coburg fetched $1.51 million, selling under the hammer to a young couple who had been renting in Fitzroy.
The couple outbid five other buyers for the property at 70 Clarendon Street. The home had a price guide of $1.2 million to $1.3 million and last sold for $480,000 in 2008, records show.
Ray White Coburg’s Raphael Calik-Houston said the auction was hotly contested, given the home was a solid entry into the sought after northern suburb.
“We mostly had young couples battling it out as it’s more of an entry level, couple home for Coburg,” Calik-Houston said. “We’re seeing quite a lot of urgency from buyers wanting to buy before Christmas.
“They’ve been looking for the whole year and missing out, so they’ve created a bit of a mental deadline,” he said. “It’s the best Christmas present for them.”
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