Four bidders battle it out for $1.95m inner-north Victorian

A young professional woman looking to move from the city’s south has paid $1.95 million for a 19th-century Victorian townhouse in Fitzroy, beating three others for the keys.

The three-bedroom, north-facing property at 75 Webb Street drew quite the crowd at Saturday morning’s auction, with four parties actively bidding, guided at $1.65m to $1.75m.

Despite the interest, proceedings began tentatively, with Jellis Craig Fitzroy lead agent and auctioneer David Sanguinedo cajoling the crowd to make the first offer.

“It’s only 98 days until Christmas, and if you bid now you can be celebrating it in the hub of Fitzroy,” he called out.

In the absence of offers, Sanguinedo opened with a vendor’s bid of $1.65m, which was swiftly countered by the first bidder with $1.66m.

Auctioneer David Sanguinedo fought hard to get proceedings started. David SanguinedoFrom there, four bidders moved rapidly in $10,000 increments all the way to the final price, with the second bidder proving successful. The reserve was $1.75 million.

“[The buyer was] a young professional woman moving from south of the river for a lifestyle change. She’s a travel enthusiast and was bidding with confidence, backed by her dad on the phone encouraging her to go for it,” Sanguinedo said.

The direct underbidder was a young couple already living in the north who wanted to stay in this specific pocket, but had been repeatedly missing out on properties, he said.

Sanguinedo said turnkey properties were selling well, with “people willing to pay a premium for a well-renovated, unique property to avoid doing work themselves, viewing money as time.

“On top of that, good quality stock is scarce, especially with only 98 days until Christmas. So high-value properties continue to attract strong competition regardless of broader market noise.”

The property was one of 913 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 57 per cent from 655 reported results throughout the week, while 81 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

This Fitzroy home sold for $200,000 above reserve to a young professional at auction on Saturday. Justin McManusAdvertisementA first home buyer missed out on a two-bedroom unit in Clayton, in the outer east, after a bold first bid of $190,000 – $302,000 short of the final price of $492,000.

Listed with a range of $480,000 to $520,000, the home at 2/6 Wright Street, featuring separate living and dining areas and generous bedrooms, had a reserve price of $490,000.

McGrath Clayton lead agent Elroy Malowney said the ambitious bidder “tried an opening bid of $190,000, likely based on a perception that the market has dropped significantly. They did not bid again after that”.

The offer was countered by a second bidder, who offered $460,000, which was again countered by a vendor bid of $490,000, Malowney said. The second bidder, also a first home buyer, purchased the property for a final bid of $492,000.

Malowney said that buyers seemed to have a “skewed perception of market conditions”.

“After recent news reports mentioned a drop in the Melbourne market... many buyers assume they can discount property prices by another 15 to 20 per cent below the quoted range, failing to realise that those price adjustments have already been factored in,” he said.

A young professional woman paid $941,000 for an inner-city Melbourne apartment at auction after first submitting a private offer of $860,000.

The spacious, three-bedroom apartment at 143/283 Spring Street, comes with floor-to-ceiling windows and is only a three-minute walk from Parliament Station.

Ray White Southbank listing agent Tommy-Lee Davies said the auction drew four bidders, including investors and upsizers, all after a centrally located unit.

The property had a price guide of between $850,000 to $900,000 and a reserve of $880,000.

In the end, the contest was between the professional woman, a lawyer, and an overseas investor family, he said.

“The investor kept placing larger bids of up to $9000 raises, while the owner-occupier kept countering with $1000 increments until the investor gave up,” Davies said.

Davies has noticed buyers more confident with lower offers.

“Buyers come in assuming they have all the power and expect bargain prices,” he said.

Davies said Melbourne’s one-bedroom apartment market was doing well, especially among investors, due to offering strong rental yields.

“Otherwise, many campaigns are struggling for buyer numbers. Buyers are cautious, taking their time, and acting as if they are the only buyer in the entire market.”

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