A family home in the Park in pristine condition on a “large lot” sold to a first home buyer for $900,500 at auction on Saturday, just $500 over its reserve.
Three bedroom south facing brick house 22 Merrilands Road it was on a street of 888 square meters, a short distance from Keon Park train station. It had a price guide of $850,000 to $915,000.
Selling agent Keb Nguyen from Ray White Reservoir said the home sold for less than he expected.
“The deposit was $900,000,” he said. “We thought we’d get more.”
The auction opened at $800,000, with four bidders working their way up to the $830,0000 mark, when two dropped out.
“The property was put on the market for $900,000, and then there was one bid over $500, and that was it,” Nguyen said.
He said while the property was dated, its large land size attracted investors.
“Many people saw the possibility of a large building and a house that could be renovated or expanded,” Nguyen said.
Finally, the first home buyer with plans to use the property as an investment succeeded.
“He’s looking at what he needs to do to get the grant and the deposit program, so he may have to move for a while before it can be used as an investment,” Nguyen said.
The sellers, also investors, previously bought the property from Nguyen in 2022.
“I think they may have lost money,” he said. “I sold it to them … for $860,000 plus tax.”
The stamp duty payable on the purchase would be less than $47,000.
The property was one of 246 organized auctions in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, the Domain Group had recorded a the initial auction clearance rate of 56 percent from 151 reported results, while 22 auctions were eliminated. Canceled auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating clearance rate.
In Wollert, a two-bedroom home near power lines was auctioned for $518,500, nearly $80,000 above its reserve, in a runaway auction.
1 Frisby Street it was listed with a price guide of $400,000 to $440,000 and had a $440,000 reserve.
Selling agent Hayden Assaad from Ray White Wollert said he was “very surprised” by the results.
“To be honest, we didn’t expect to get that price,” he said.
“Being so close to the power lines, and behind it with the power box, I didn’t expect this result, but someone who wanted to go out all that way.”
Four bidders participated in the auction, among them a first home buyer and an investor.
“The investor finally bought the house with a final bid of $500, after the first home buyer left $518,000,” Assaad said.
The property was a “new” two-story home purchased by the seller as a first home, he said. Records show it last sold in 2016 for $160,000.
“(The seller) took good care of it, and I think that was one of the biggest draw cards: it was well presented and taken care of,” he said.
In Glen Waverley, a “house-sized unit” sold at auction for $1.365 million.
1/18 Harvie Street it had a price guide of $1.2 million to $1.3 million, with a reserve of $1.3 million.
Grace Rodrigues from BigginScott Glen Waverley said there were four registered bidders but “only two got into it”.
“It opened with a bid of $1.2 million,” he said. “But a second bid of $1.3 million meant the other two were underpriced.”
The next 10 minutes saw a fight between a family aiming to get a house in the Glen Waverley school area and reduce, who finally succeeded.
“Dad really wanted it. He had tears in his eyes when he didn’t get it,” Rodrigues said.
Along with the location, Rodrigues said the 20-year-old property was “unique” because it was one of the last home-sized units built on large blocks before townhouses “took off”.
“It has three meter high ceilings, a large living area and large bedrooms. The size of the land is also very good,” he said.
The lack of action was also interesting for the reducer.
“When people get older, they don’t want stairs,” Rodrigues said. “So the fact that the internal garage access to the house was flat was interesting.”
PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said April was always a “strange time” for the auction market.
“It’s after Easter, there’s a federal budget coming up and Anzac Day is thrown in there too, it’s like an auction clearance rate soup,” he said.
The state of the economy, with the recent boom, the war in the Middle East and the rising cost of living also had an impact.
“There’s already that seasonal stuff, and then this gets thrown over the top,” Mardiasmo said.
