Melbourne vendors make $1.7m selling ‘a really lovely renovation’

An owner-occupier paid $1,705,000 for a renovated Edwardian home with soaring cathedral ceilings in Hawthorn East at auction on Saturday.

The two-bedroom home at 75 Fletcher Street was one of a pair of semi-detached houses at the end of a cul-de-sac and was listed with a price guide of $1.4 million to $1.5 million.

Four parties registered and three bid for the Hawthorn East home, Jellis Craig Richmond selling agent Luke Schickerling said.

The opening bid was $1.3 million, but a vendor bid was placed at $1.4 million, the bottom of the guide, with a call for a $20,000 rise.

Three parties made about 40 bids in total, pushing the price above the reserve of $1.53 million, at which point the home was called on the market, and to $1,705,000, when it sold.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

The home last traded for $555,000 in 2005 and was later listed for rent, records show.

Schickerling described it as a “pretty free-flowing” auction and said the winner intends to live in the home.

“The open plan and exposed beam component at the rear of the property probably distinguished it from the other properties available this week,” he said. “It was a really lovely renovation.”

He also noted the location in a street with a few pairs of semis. “It was a great street,” he said. “It is just a really good house.”

Schickerling said he had three auctions on Saturday, with multiple bidders, and vendors happy.

“I couldn’t be critical of the market,” he said.

It was a different story elsewhere, as Melbourne’s clearance rate held below the 60 per cent threshold considered a balanced market.

The Hawthorn East home was one of 1160 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 58 per cent from 783 reported results, while 128 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

A generous family home in Ivanhoe with a pool is still available after passing in without attracting competitive bidding at auction.

The four-bedroom home at 41 Marshall Street was listed with a price guide of $3 million to $3.3 million.

Miles Real Estate Ivanhoe selling agent Mark Britt said two buyers attended but neither raised their hand.

“Both buyers were waiting for the other buyer to do something,” he said.

He said the vendors, empty nesters selling their home of four decades, initially hoped for about $3.25 million. But by Saturday afternoon, the home’s price guide was updated to $3,195,000.

Britt expected the home to sell soon, given its location in the Fairy Hills pocket and close to Ivanhoe Grammar School.

He said more homes had been selling by negotiation recently, either before or after auctions.

“Just with what has happened overseas and all the media talk about interest rates, people are more nervous,” he said.

“Prices are still good, things are still selling. It is just harder.”

In Brunswick, a buyer’s advocate picked up a two-bedroom terrace for under $1 million.

The single-fronted home at 157 Albion Street was listed with a price guide of $900,000 to $990,000.

A buyer made a genuine bid on the auction floor of $910,000, but with no further offers, the home passed in, Nelson Alexander Brunswick selling agent Carl Sacco said. He said there were a couple of other buyers there, but none made an offer.

The home sold in negotiations for $990,000, the reserve price.

“It was a solid house, great spot, it had the opportunity to improve it down the track,” he said.

Sacco said he had noticed more homes passing in and selling by negotiation later, rather than selling at auction, but said homes were still selling well. Buyers were still looking, and the amount of stock available was tightening, he said.

In Fitzroy, a local paid $2,362,000 for a fixer-upper close to Brunswick, Gertrude and Smith streets.

The double-fronted semi at 41 Charles Street drew bidding from two parties, although Jellis Craig selling agent David Sanguinedo said another potential buyer was interested but did not bid.

Proceedings began below the advertised price guide of $2.2 million to $2.4 million, with an opening bid of $2.1 million.

Sanguinedo said rises of $50,000 rises took the price within the guide quickly, and the home was on the market at its reserve price of $2.3 million.

He said the two bidders were neck and neck in smaller bids until the home sold.

“They are going to build their dream spot,” the agent said of the successful bidder.

He said properties in Fitzroy don’t come up for sale often, so when residents don’t want to compromise on location they will wait for an opportunity.

Smith Street, Sanguinedo said, was ranked the coolest street in the world by Time Out magazine in 2021. The following year, Gertrude Street was runner-up.

“Consumer confidence is low, just because of the geopolitical stuff that is happening. But I feel that my market – that is Fitzroy and surrounds – things are still transacting,” he said.

“It is interest rates, the Middle East, petrol, the cost of living. That being said, there is still people downsizing, upsizing, having babies, so things are still happening.”

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said April was a seasonally weaker month for auctions due to the school holidays and public holidays. But there were more reasons the market had been subdued.

“The Iranian-US-Israeli war itself has created a lot of consumer negativity about the future. People are concerned about the sharp rise in petrol prices,” he said.

“So there is concern that interest rates are going to rise yet again.”

Christopher said the federal government might change property taxes in next month’s budget.

“There is a lot of negativity out there,” he said.