A retro 1975-designed Williamstown home with shag pile carpets sold at auction on Saturday for $2.76 million.
The three-bedroom house at 11 Victoria Street was guided at $2.55 million to $2.65 million and had a reserve of $2.6 million.
“I felt like I should have worn my Austin Powers suit because the home, especially its bold interiors, had a very ’70s retro feel to it,” said selling agent and auctioneer, Dean Stanley from Ray White Williamstown.
“The seller had lived in the home for the last 40 or so years but is relocating to Canberra to be closer to her family.”
The property was one of 1597 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 67.7 per cent from 1133 reported results throughout the week, while 118 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Four active bidders took part in the auction, including a mix of buyers looking to knock down and rebuild, one buyer represented by an advocate, and a family aiming to purchase and renovate the home.
“One bidder was hoping to build two homes on the lot,” said Stanley.
“But the successful bidders were a young family from Pascoe Vale who are planning on moving in and renovating the home,” he said.
“They have two young children, and both will be going to the local schools.”
Bidding opened with a vendor bid of $2.5 million and was called on the market at $2.6 million.
“The home was built really well,” said Stanley.
The property’s location, only a short walk from Williamstown’s Esplanade and the beach, also proved attractive to the bidders.
“It’s a great location, although during the auction, the Westpac lifesaving helicopter was training, so I had to call the auction even louder than normal,” said Stanley.
In Port Melbourne, a ground-floor two-bedroom apartment in Port Melbourne’s The Park Apartment complex sold under the hammer for $885,000.
The home at 26/6 Graham Street was listed with a price guide of $780,000 to $820,000 and a reserve of $820,000.
Jon Kett from Jellis Craig Port Melbourne said the two active bidders were both investors from Sydney.
“Both had friends at the auction bidding on their behalf,” he said.
The bidding opened at $790,000 and rose in increments of $10,000 until it reached $820,000.
“It was called on the market, and then the bidding included a few attempted knock-out bids and some lower bids of $1000,” said Kett. “It was a bit of a mix.”
Kett said that being positioned on the ground floor was a major drawcard.
“People really like the ground floor, and this apartment hasn’t been up for sale for about 10 to 15 years,” he said.
Another apartment across the road, built by the same builders, also sold at auction on Saturday. “The market in Port Melbourne has been pretty consistent,” said Kett. “It’s nothing out of control but definitely consistent.”
In Maidstone, a two-bedroom home on the market for the first time in almost 50 years, sold under the hammer for $867,000.
The home at 26 Norfolk Street was listed with a price guide of $770,000 to $830,000 and had a reserve of $820,000.
The property set on a large allotment offers scope for a new build or dual occupancy (STCA).
Joseph Allan from Village Real Estate said there were four interested parties, but only two actively bidded.
“Two of the potential buyers held off, and it went past what they saw value in before they could get involved,” he said.
The opening bid was a vendor bid of $770,000, which then rose in increments of $20,000, $10,000, $5000, and then dropped to $1000.
“The underbidders were looking for a home, and the buyer will probably rent it for a while before they decide what to do with it, but their view is to build a dream family home on the site, whether it be to renovate or demolish,” said Allan.
The property’s facade and streetscape impressed potential buyers, said Allan.
“The home has a beautiful facade, it’s really homely,” he said.
Louis Christopher, property analyst at SQM, said the auction result is “typical for this time of year”.
“There are a lot of properties on the market due to it being spring selling time, but as we head toward Christmas, auction clearance rates tend to fall; it’s a seasonal phenomenon.”
However, Christopher said that the result is still the same as last year.
“Melbourne is recording property rises. The tempo currently for Melbourne is price rises in the order of seven to nine per cent.”
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