‘This is an outlier’: Renovated Melbourne unit fetches $670,000 at auction

A stylish converted warehouse apartment in Collingwood is still available after passing in at auction with no bids.

The two-bedroom, top-floor home at 19/93 Oxford Street comes with soaring ceilings and a steel catwalk to the outdoor terrace.

The property was one of 291 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 52 per cent from 178 reported results throughout the week, while 29 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The volume of auctions dropped to less than one-third of the 918 scheduled the previous week because of the long weekend for the AFL grand final.

The Collingwood home was listed with a price guide of $1.1 million to $1.2 million.

But nobody raised their hand at auction. A vendor bid was placed at $1.13 million, but with no genuine bids forthcoming, the home passed in.

The reserve price was $1.22 million, and the residence is now available for private sale at that price.

Jellis Craig Fitzroy selling agent Michael Amarant said he was in discussions with potential buyers to get the home sold.

“It is very feast or famine for agents at the moment,” he said.

Investors sold their Noble Park unit to a first home buyer couple for $670,000 at auction on Saturday, beating downsizers to the keys.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 1/19 Simon Avenue was fully renovated and has a backyard and carport, and is set on a large block of 352 square metres.

The Noble Park home was listed with a price guide of $600,000 to $660,000.

Four bidders registered and three participated in the auction, Century 21 Wilson Pride selling agent Travis Bockman said.

Bidding began at $600,000 and rose in $10,000 increments, then by offers of $5000.

After reaching the reserve price of $650,000, the stride shortened to bids as small as $1000.

A first home buyer couple landed the keys, while the underbidders were downsizers.

Bockman said the home stood out due to its renovation and land size.

“To have four parties interested in one property is an outlier,” he said.

He said the market broadly was on a downward trajectory, and noted the chance of another interest rate rise when the Reserve Bank meets on Tuesday.

Once rate hikes cease, he said, confidence would return.

“There are people wanting to buy, they want to move, they want to transact. They are just waiting for this cloudiness,” he said.

In Craigieburn, a downsizing couple won a hot auction for a three-bedroom house, paying $783,000.

The home at 73 Scenery Drive is set on a 453-square-metre block and was listed with a price guide of $679,000 to $729,000.

Three bidders competed, starting with a bid of $650,000.

The price rose quickly in a mix of $10,000 and $5000 increments to reach and surpass the reserve of $730,000.

Downsizers from Melbourne’s northern suburbs whose children live nearby won the auction.

“I don’t think they were going to let it go,” Barry Plant Craigieburn selling agent Romi Sleiman said.

He said the home felt spacious and well-proportioned because it did not have a fourth bedroom squeezed onto the site.

A first home buyer was runner-up, while the sellers were a young couple who have moved closer to the city.

Records show the property last traded for $692,500 in 2023.

Sleiman said there was still demand for homes in the area, and he expected more sales within a fortnight.

“I am starting to see a lot more buyer demand as we come into spring.”

In Bulleen, an upsizer paid $940,000 for a three-bedroom house, beating five other parties, at a Thursday night auction that was brought forward a week due to keen interest.

The home at 2/9 Lonsdale Street had a price guide of $790,000 to $860,000 and was advertised as having no body corporate.

Bidding began at $790,000 and rose quickly in a mix of $10,000, $5000 and even $40,000 bids.

Barry Plant Manningham selling agent Harry Lai said a single parent moving from an apartment bought the home, while the underbidders included a first home buyer, an upsizer and downsizers. The reserve was $850,000.

“It was turnkey, it was ready to go, it was priced to the market,” Lai said.

He said in general, homes are still trading, but some are taking a little longer than normal.

In Wollert, in Melbourne’s outer north, a first-home buyer family paid $655,000 for a three-bedroom house from an investor at auction on Sunday.

The contemporary home at 12 Creswick Drive was listed with price hopes of $600,000 to $660,000.

Two parties competed, starting with a bid of $580,000, and rising in $10,000 increments, then $5000 bids.

It then shortened to small bids of $2500 and $1000, and edged over the reserve price of $650,000.

Ray White Wollert selling agent Abraham Solomon described the winners as “super stoked”, as they had missed out on another property recently. The underbidder also missed out on another home that week, he said.

The vendors were selling after their tenant decided to vacate, he said.

Solomon said his auctions were still attracting competition. Some homes sold for good prices, but there were vendors who didn’t want to meet the market and who did not sell.

“There are still buyers out there. It is still a great opportunity for first home buyers,” he said.

PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said Melbourne’s auction clearance rate was affected by the long weekend.

“I am not surprised that not many people went to auctions and not many people wanted to list,” she said.

Mardiasmo said Melbourne’s market generally was showing signs of stability, but the clearance rate could drop if the Reserve Bank lifts the cash rate on Tuesday.

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