Siblings sell neighbouring Fitzroy North homes for more than $1.5m each

Originally written for and published on domain.com.au by MELISSA HEAGNEY

MAR 5, 2022

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wo stylish Fitzroy North homes owned by a brother and sister who lived next door to each other for more than a decade, sold in two separate auctions on Saturday, with each selling for more than $1.5 million.

The two homes inside a refurbished Victorian shopfront attracted a large crowd of onlookers, despite the rain that hit Melbourne early Saturday morning.

The first auction of 700 Brunswick Street, a two-bedroom home owned by Folk Architects director Tim Wilson, sold for $1,632,500, after five bidders competed for the keys.

A young professional became the new owner after making a final bid of $2500 to seal the deal.

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The second property, Fran Wilson’s two-bedroom home at 698 Brunswick Street, sold to a young couple for $1,531,000, after another five bidders competed. The couple’s final $500 bid ensured they won the unique home.

Both properties, which had been architecturally redesigned by Mr Wilson and decorated by Ms Wilson, sold above their asking price ranges.

Though they had spent 14 years living within shouting distance of each other, they were happy to move on from the homes.

“It’s bitter-sweet,” Mr Wilson said after the auctions. “But we’re really pleased because we think the buyers will get along well and that was one of the things we were hoping for.”

The siblings are now living in Northcote with their respective partners and families, but are still not too far apart, living just five minutes from each other.

“It was a great result for two beautiful people,” Jellis Craig Fitzroy agent and auctioneer Nigel Harry added. “The market has been property-specific and anything with period fabric or warehouse-like is immensely popular.”

The auctions were two of 1205 scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday, making it the city’s third “Super Saturday” in a row, with more than 1000 auctions also scheduled the previous two weekends. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 71.5 per cent from 811 reported results, while 65 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

Agents said properties that have wide appeal were still selling well under the hammer, despite the rise in auctions, though some are now passing in.

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