Bayside art deco house passes in at $1,585,000

“There’s plenty of buyers around and not enough properties on the market,” she said, adding that while the first interest rate rise has not yet had an impact, a subsequent rise could.

“One people can cop… but if they were to continue to rise, I think we’d see a larger impact,” Ryan said.

In Melbourne’s north-east, a local family secured the keys to a quirky, colourful house after placing the winning bid of $1,052,000.

The three-bedroom home at 2/178 Porter Road, Heidelberg Heights, featuring a pool and sustainable design elements such as a rainwater tanks, was listed with a price guide of $920,000 to $980,000.

Ray White MacLeod lead agent Brett Schembri said the auction opened with a genuine bid of $950,000, with bids from three parties quickly surpassing the reserve price of $980,000.

“The bidding was strong, quick, not much hesitation,” he said. The buyer was a young, local family who “really appreciated the quality and effort the vendors had put into the home”.

The vendors, a retired couple, were moving overseas to be with family.

Schembri said the market has been interesting, but patchy. “We had four auctions this week, and all sold well under hammer,” he said.

Earlier, a young family paid $1.04 million for a unit with “house-like proportions” in Elwood in Melbourne’s inner south-east, outbidding two other parties.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at 13A/3 Wimbledon Avenue, Elwood, was guided at $1 million to $1.1 million, with a reserve price of $1.02 million. It featured a front courtyard, separate laundry and garage, and was within walking distance of Acland Street and the beach.

Belle Property St Kilda auctioneer and listing agent Will Johnson said bidding started at $980,000 and continued with a “fast back and forward in increments of mainly $5000”. Both underbidders were downsizers.

The vendor, also a family with two children, was selling the property to fund a renovation for a newly purchased house, he added.

Despite last week’s interest rate rise and fears of further rises, Johnson said he was seeing a lot of buyers with finance ready to go.

“There is plenty of activity in the market – a lot of things selling before auction,” he said. “There’s also a lack of good quality stock on the market. A lot of people want to keep hold of it, especially in suburbs like Elwood.”

In Malvern East, an investor paid $45,000 above the top end of the guide for an apartment needing renovation.

The unit at 7/245 Waverley Road, featuring two robed bedrooms and balconies overlooking gardens, was guided at $540,000 to $590,000, with a reserve of $580,000.

The bidding, which opened at $540,000, quickly reached the reserve price as five parties battled it out, said Nelson Alexander Kew listing agent Nick Whyte.

“We had four bidders still active within the last $15,000,” he said. The property sold under the hammer for $635,000 to an investor for “the future use of the family”.

“I imagine they will keep it as an investment for four to five years and then the children will reside there,” Whyte said.

He was confident the market was in good shape, especially in the first-home buyer demographic.

“To have five bidders [compete] for an apartment that needs to be renovated, [that has] a company share title and which wasn’t a straightforward sale in that respect, shows you there is good depth in that first-home buyer market.”