By Tom Carey
A three-storey house in Hawthorn East has sold for $4.06 million to a downsizing local family after they outbid two young couples at auction.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom and four-car-space property at 30 Leura Grove, had a price guide of $3.5 to 3.8 million. Jellis Craig Hawthorn director and auctioneer Richard Winneke declined to disclose the reserve price, but said it was within the range.
Winneke said the successful buyers beat two young couples in a competitive auction that started at $3.6 million.
The house is on a 581-square-metre parcel of land near Anderson Park and Burke Road shops.
“Overall, the market was pretty positive,” said Winneke about results in the eastern suburbs. “Buying in Hawthorn and Hawthorn East is very desirable, mainly for the [nearby] schools.”
It was one of 1011 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.1 per cent from 737 reported results, while 91 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Yarraville, a landlord sold their three-bedroom Victorian house in post-auction negotiations on Saturday.
The house at 67 Bellairs Avenue sold to a young family for $1,125,500. But only after it was passed in at $1.101 million.
The house had been quoted at $1.05 million to $1.15 million. Jas Stephens listing agent and auctioneer George Alexander placed a vendor bid at the bottom of the range to start the auction. The only buyer at the auction bid $1.075 million before a second vendor bid was placed at $1.1 million.
Negotiations between the buyers and vendors led to a sale price that exceeded the $1,120,000 reserve price.
The vendors had lived in the property since 2008 before they moved to Perth nine years ago. They had retained the property with intentions to return to Melbourne, but decided to stay in Perth and sell the Yarraville home.
Alexander said that increased costs for landlords had caused a rise in listings.
“People are just saying there’s no point holding on to rental properties any more – they’re selling. The rental crisis is going to get worse and worse,” said Alexander.
The buyers had rented in Yarraville after moving from Geelong. Alexander said they had plans to renovate the single-level Victorian.
In Elsternwick, first home buyers paid $730,000 for a renovated two-bedroom apartment.
The successful buyers beat two other competitors for the property at 8/20 Victoria Street. Bidding in the auction commenced at $630,000, and it was declared on the market at the reserve price of $690,000.
“The location is what really attracted everybody – right across the park, across the road from Elsternwick shops,” said auctioneer Oren Flamm of Flare Real Estate.
“The market is really saturated at the moment,” Flamm said. “But when a really good apartment comes on the market, nothing else matters, buyers will come.”
The first home buyers will move in from a rental in South Yarra. The vendors had raised their family in the apartment and were upsizing to Caulfield North.
In Richmond, an updated Victorian two-bedroom house went to auction on Saturday but was passed in after no bids.
The asking price for the property at 37 Smith Street was $820,000 to $880,000. Biggin&Scott director and auctioneer Andrew Crotty said three buyers had registered to bid at auction, but due to personal circumstances did not attend on Saturday.
“We’re finding that the market is steady,” he said. “We’re seeing fewer people at inspections, but everything is either selling before, during or after [an auction], and nothing is hanging on the market for long.”
Crotty said the property was a “really pleasant, really charming, renovated cottage. We’re confident that it will sell in the next day or two.”
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said high interest rates and delayed rate cuts were restraining demand in the Melbourne property market.
“The preliminary clearance rate was 61.1 per cent, which will probably get revised down to 57 to 58,” Oliver said.
“We’ve got a pick-up in listings which is relatively high compared to Sydney. Some of those listings could be distressed sales. Demand is struggling.”
Oliver said that the Reserve Bank’s decision to hold interest rates was progressively having an impact on the market.