Upsizer gets a $45,000 discount on Essendon home with stylish reno

Two bidders weren’t enough for a four-bedroom Art Deco home in Essendon to sell under the hammer on Saturday, when it passed in on a bid of $2.55 million and sold in post-auction negotiations for $2,655,000.

A local professional wanting to upgrade bought the home at 51 Woolley Street, paying just below the $2.7 million reserve.

The Essendon home was one of 710 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 58 per cent from 508 reported results throughout the week, while 78 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

This weekend also marked the last where reserves would not appear in advertising for properties listed for auction.

New state laws mean vendors will be required to make their reserves public at least seven days before the auction is scheduled. The new rule comes into effect on Friday.

Agents, many of whom have already adopted the rule changes, say buyer hesitancy is growing after the September interest rate rise. Higher interest rates mean buyers can borrow less, and many are now looking for a bargain to meet their reduced budgets.

Bidding for the Essendon property, part of the exclusive Mar Lodge estate, carrying a single-dwelling-only covenant, opened on a vendor bid of $2.4 million.

The buyer and another bidder – a young family – traded offers until the property passed in at $2.55 million, and the sale was negotiated.

Jellis Craig Moonee Valley’s John Morello said the market was offering good opportunities for those looking to upgrade.

“It’s a great buying opportunity compared to markets gone by where a house like this would have gotten a price in the high $2 millions if not $3 million,” Morello said.

The sale was emotional for the vendors, he said, given they had owned the home for 32 years, and had undertaken a full renovation and extension about 15 years ago.

“It was the closing of a chapter for them – the house was just too big for the two of them to live in and too big to maintain,” he said.

In Fitzroy, a similar story unfolded when two bidders competed for a double-storey Victorian home known as ‘Thusnelda’.

It also passed in on a $2.39 million bid, then sold for $2.4 million, below the $2.45 million reserve.

The three-bedroom property at 40 Palmer Street needed a major renovation, and had been advertised with a guide of $2.4 million to $2.5 million.

The buyer, who negotiated the sale after the property passed in, was a Fitzroy local looking to upgrade.

Nelson Alexander Fitzroy’s James Pilliner said buyers were holding back in a quieter spring market, especially when homes needed a renovation.

Many feared rising building costs and were not keen to undertake major works.

“I am finding they are more hesitant – they will still buy but only if there’s a really good deal on the table in terms of price,” Pilliner said.

He said there were still a “good amount” of buyers in the market, given people moved for life changes including being closer to work and schools, which he believed would help balance supply and demand.

“Moving ahead, the next six weeks is going to be very quiet, but that’s possibly related to the upcoming State election,” Pilliner said.

Pilliner also sold a three-bedroom Victorian home in Carlton North under the hammer, for $1,822,000. The property known as Fernleigh, at 580 Drummond Street, sold above its reserve of $1.7 million as a family investment.

It had been advertised with a guide of $1.6 million to $1.7 million.

Two bidders competed, opening at $1.6 million, with offers of $10,000, $5000 and $1000 and $2000 following.

Another property in Footscray also passed in before selling for $890,000 to first-home buyers moving from South Yarra.

The two-bedroom California bungalow at 4 Essex Street sold under its reserve of $920,000, the top of its advertised price range of $870,000 to $920,000.

Bidding for the property, which was in original condition, opened with a vendor bid of $880,000.

The first-home buyers made one bid of $890,000 before the property passed in. It sold for that price as the buyers had reached the limit of their budget, and had no room to move, with the vendors accepting their offer.

Jas Stephens Real Estate’s Branko Lemaic said agents had been expecting another buyer at the auction, but they hadn’t shown up.

Lemaic agreed buyers had been hesitant after the last interest rate rise, with budgets being squeezed.

“Apprehension is the name of the game,” Lemaic said. “Larger scale family homes that are fully renovated, are turnkey, are going really well.

“If this one had been renovated it would have done well.”