Downsizer secures $1.32m art deco Toorak pad that passed in at auction

A light-filled art deco apartment in Toorak sold for $1.32 million in post-auction negotiations on Saturday, having been passed in after just one bid.

The three-bedroom first-floor apartment at 4/405 Toorak Road was one of four in a boutique block, and had a price guide of between $1.2 million and $1.32 million, with a reserve of $1.3 million.

RT Edgar agent and auctioneer Lachie Fox said bidding opened at $1.21 million but passed in with no further bids.

The price was negotiated up to $1.32 million, at the top of the guide and $20,000 above the reserve.

Fox said three potential bidders had whittled down to one, as two parties were unable to secure financing before the auction. Both attended to see if the property went back on the market after the auction.

The buyer was a downsizer from Bentleigh who wanted to move closer to the city, Fox said, and “fell in love with the art deco style” and the well-lit open spaces throughout the large floor plan.

Fox said the vendor owned the block of four apartments and had previously tried selling the whole building as an investment opportunity, but was now selling each apartment individually.

The property was one of 1239 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week.

In Reservoir, a two-bedroom modern townhouse sold for $785,000 at auction, with four active bidders pushing the price $85,000 over the reserve.

The two-storey home at 3/107 Barton Street was “lakeside Reservoir”, Ray White Preston agent and auctioneer Ian Dempsey said, and was minutes from Edwardes Street shops while still in a “quiet, peaceful pocket”.

It had a price guide of $670,000 to $700,000.

Dempsey said bidding opened at $640,000, and increased in $20,000 increments before clearing the $700,000 reserve, and then progressed in $10,000 and then $5000 bids.

A young woman was successful in buying her first home, having just moved out of a nearby rental. She outbid a young couple and a buyer’s advocate.

Dempsey said the vendors sold after purchasing a larger property locally and were happy with the result.

“It sold like a three-bedroom, not a two-bedroom, really,” he said, noting the buyers had been enticed by the large living area.

He said it was a good result, given a lack of certainty in the market and a general feeling that buyers were “tightening their belts” given interest rates and the cost of living.