Forest Hill house passes in at auction, sells to family who couldn’t bid for their ‘perfect fit’ at auction

A five-bedroom house at 14 Tisane Ave, Forest Hill, sold in the closing days of August to a family who had only discovered it was for sale a few days before its auction.

Ray White Manningham auctioneer Frank Perri said the family were there during the auction, but weren’t one of the three parties who bid.

“We came reasonably close at the auction,” Mr Perri said. “But it sold to a family that had seen the property only a couple of days before.

“We thought they would be the stronger buyer, but they weren’t ready to put their hand up at the auction.”

He said while the buyers had been caught “by surprise” the property was a perfect fit for them, with a downstairs bedroom providing them with accommodation for their parents who visit regularly from overseas. They bought the home a few days later for $1.4 million — a substantive increase on the $1.26 million bid the home passed in on at its auction.

“(And) it was brilliantly located, walking distance to several schools and an easy distance to Forest Hill Chase,” Mr Perri said.

SUBURB PROFILE: FOREST HILL

He added that after a short-supplied winter choosing not to bid at an auction was a risky approach, but said there were signs more homes were coming up for sale in the area.

“It’s just starting to pick up, but we are finally starting to satisfy the buyer demand out there,” he said.

A pair of homes that sold ahead of their scheduled auctions reinforced the strength of demand in the area, according to Noel Jones Mitcham director Matthew Scafidi.

The pair had been scheduled for auction at the start of spring, but sold in the final days of winter.

A $1.421 million offer emerged for 15 Oxford Grove, Vermont South, and took the home off the market on August 31 — well ahead of its scheduled September 10 auction date.

A family buyer claimed the keys, according to Mr Scafidi.

SUBURB PROFILE: VERMONT SOUTH

Meanwhile, a developer purchased a three-bedroom house on 601sq m at 21 Owen St, Mitcham, for $950,000 on Monday, August 29. It was scheduled to go under the hammer on September 3.

“There have been pre-auction, and at auction sales, and a few that have passed in and sold later, so it’s a more diverse market at the moment,” Mr Scafidi said.

“What we do know is that there is stock coming and there’s going to be more choice coming and we have got some great results above vendor expectations.”

And a quiet spell in the Donvale and surrounding area may be coming to an end, according to Hoskins Real Estate director John Hoskins.

There should be a good number of homes come onto the market in the next few weeks, Mr Hoskins said.

He added that the bottom of the market in the Donvale area was very popular with buyers.

“The $600,000 to $800,000 range and anything for first-home buyers, you can’t get enough at the moment,” Mr Hoskins said.

SUBURB PROFILE: DONVALE