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First published in The Herald Sun
Not even Melbourne’s extended lockdown could stop buyers from turning out in force — albeit virtually — to snap up a piece of real estate at auction on Saturday.
The preliminary auction clearance rate remained high at 94 per cent on Monday morning, based on 457 results available, according to realestate.com.au.
As onsite bidding was halted for the second weekend in a row, agencies again pivoted to auctions online, with many still achieving premium sales.
In Richmond, a piece of “period luxury” at 20 Bennett St notched a $1.49 million result — more than $160,000 over reserve.
Woodards Bentleigh agent John Pollard said the three-bedroom Edwardian, close to Victoria St and the CBD, had been freshly updated by the vendors who wanted to “do a good service to the memory” of their late sister, who had lived at the property.
Meanwhile in the city’s trendy north, a humble two-bedroom home at 7 Henderson St, Northcote, sold more than $300,000 above asking price.
An opening bid of $1 million didn’t deter five bidders from battling it out for the property via an online auction, which was officiated by McGrath Northcote principal Gino De Iesi.
It eventually sold for $1.43 million.
“The auction just sailed away,” Mr De Iesi said.
“It was really competitive, a lot more than what we anticipated. That pocket of the north is pretty sought after and very tightly held.”
Mr De Iesi said hot conditions looked likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with demand still exceeding expectation for properties in good quality areas.
“I think the amount of inventory at the moment, there’s not much out there and when certain properties come up in desirable locations it keeps pushing prices to the next level,” he said.
“It’s going from strength to strength, in some cases on a weekly basis.”
Auctions also returned onsite in regional Victoria on Saturday after a seven-day lockdown, with sales in regions like Geelong achieving stellar results.
A total of 1280 properties were scheduled to go under the hammer across Victoria this week, according to realestate.com.au.
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