A family home in Beaumaris passed in on a vendor bid of $1.85 million at auction on Saturday, $50,000 below the bottom of its price guide.
The four-bedroom home at 11 Shands Street is close to Cheltenham Park, and features luxurious touches like a pool and spa with outdoor shower, al fresco dining areas, and custom cabinetry throughout, including a wine display off the dining area.
It had a price guide of $1.9 million to $2 million, and a reserve of $1.9 million.
The property was one of 577 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 54 per cent from 383 reported results throughout the week, while 80 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
The preliminary result is likely to be revised lower as more results are collected. It comes after separate figures from property data group Cotality last week showed Melbourne home values fell 1 per cent in June and are 2.6 per cent lower than three months ago.
Ray White Bayside Group agent and auctioneer Kevin Chokshi said the sole active bidder for the Beaumaris home made an opening bid of $1.8 million, which was followed by the $1.85 million vendor bid the property passed in on.
“We had two other people who’d done multiple viewings. One of them had also brought a builder through,” Chokshi said, but both potential bidders had failed to secure finance before the auction and were unable to bid.
He said buyers held up by finance delays was something he was seeing more and more – even among buyers who had previously been pre-approved by lenders.
“In a normal climate, if [a buyer] had three months to sort out their finance and had a pre-approval that had expired, but their circumstances hadn’t changed, they would just go ahead and place an offer or bid at an auction because they’ve got 90 days to … sort out their new pre-approval,” he said.
“I’ve never seen people be so cautious. The simplest analogy is they just want to go on more dates before they get married.”
Chokshi said the property was the “quintessential” Beaumaris family home – luxuriously appointed and within several prestigious school zones – and he was now in negotiations with the three interested parties as the sale converted to private treaty. All three are families looking to occupy.
The vendors are downsizing within the area. Records show the property last sold for $920,000 in 2009.
In Coburg, a three-bedroom California bungalow in the coveted “south-of-Bell” Street pocket sold at auction on Saturday for $1,252,500, eclipsing its $1.1 million reserve by just over $150,000.
With a large backyard, separate studio, high ceilings and original hardwood timber floors throughout, 23 Vincent Street had a price guide of $1.05 million to $1.15 million, and was sold as part of a deceased estate.
Nelson Alexander Coburg agent and auctioneer Angus McPherson said the house appealed to buyers as a period home which was “immediately livable” but also offered renovation opportunities.
The auction opened with a genuine bid of $1.05 million, quickly jumping up in $20,000 increments from four active bidders, before slowing to $10,000, then $5000 and eventually $2500 bids before selling.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to shorten your stride and try and keep everyone involved,” McPherson said of the final run of $2500 bids.
The buyers were a young professional couple who had been looking in the area for a few months, specifically hoping to buy a bungalow.
McPherson said renovated homes in Coburg and Brunswick continued to sell well despite the wider downturn in the market, but he thought there was an opportunity for those looking to buy unrenovated – but liveable – homes in the area.
“I think people are just being a bit more cautious, which is to be expected,” he said.
Another period bungalow sold for $1.62 million under the hammer in Northcote on Saturday, pushed $170,000 above its $1.45 million reserve in a long battle between two bidders.
The updated but character-filled three-bedroom house at 49 Cain Avenue had a price guide of $1.45 million to $1.55 million.
It sits on a 654-square-metre block and backs onto the train line.
Ray White Northcote auctioneer and agent Ian Dempsey said the property’s convenience and proximity to Fairfield Village were highlights for prospective buyers.
“Literally, you walk through a little laneway, and you’re right there,” he said.
A genuine bid started the auction at $1.4 million, which Dempsey said then jumped in $50,000 increments to $1.5 million, before dropping to $25,000 bids, and “then it was really small [bids] for a long time” before the property sold.
He said the winning couple already lived on the street, and the husband hadn’t inspected the house until the day of the auction. The underbidders were also neighbours, renting a nearby unit.
Despite a strong sale, Dempsey said the market was “definitely tougher”.
“But it’s peaks and troughs,” he said. “We can’t have it good all the time.”
