‘In love from the first sight’: Couple drops $2.2m on Thornbury home

Key points

• Melbourne reached a 70.7 per cent preliminary auction clearance rate on Saturday.
• A Newport four-bedder sold for $1,973,000. 
• A one-bedroom apartment in Port Melbourne fetched $715,000.

Property listings

A couple paid $2,201,000 to win the keys to a Californian bungalow-style home in Thornbury, dropping $151,000 above reserve to narrowly outbid a family at auction on Saturday.

The solid brick four-bedroom home surrounded by a lush garden at 34 Speight Street had a reserve of $2.05 million with a price guide of $1.9 million to $2 million.

Jellis Craig auctioneer Nigel Harry said bidding opened at $1.9 million with two parties and quickly surpassed the $2.05 million reserve, jumping by $10,000 to $20,000 increments.

The underbidder dropped out at $2.2 million and the winner made a $1000 bid to secure the property.

Nigel Harry said the winning couple were from the inner eastern suburbs, while the underbidder was a family of four.

“They fell in love with the home from the first sight, with the natural light and garden glimpses from every aspect,” he said.

The Thornbury home offers views of its lush garden.Credit:Jellis Craig Northcote

It was one of 996 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 70.7 per cent from 776 reported results, while 79 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

Elsewhere, a local family paid $1,973,000 to win the keys to a single-level home in Newport, spending $163,000 over reserve.

The charming four-bedroom Victorian house at 66 Farm Street had a reserve of $1.81 million and a guide of between $1.7 million to $1.8 million.

Reside Real Estate’s Nathan Gleeson said about 80 people viewed the property and the bidding ended hot after a slow start, with about 25 bids cast between three parties.

“We struggled to get it on the market and I thought we might have to negotiate, but once it was announced on the market, it went ballistic … the last two went toe-to-toe for some time,” he said.

The bidders were all families. The winners hailed from Seddon and the underbidders were from Newport.

Gleeson said the sale price reflected the demand for turnkey family-friendly properties.

“If you took that out in isolation you’d think the market is flying, but there’s just such a short supply of good quality family homes on the market,” he said.

“People are putting good value on homes that have already been fully renovated. Anything that needs some love or renovation is very patchy.”

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the combination of returning confidence in the market and low listing numbers have contributed to Melbourne’s solid clearance rates this year.

There were 549 properties sold in Melbourne this week, Domain data shows, a third lower than the same time last year when 820 properties changed hands.

“Now we’ve seen some bargain hunters come into the market to play, thinking that interest rates are close to the peak,” Oliver said, adding the market would show some weakness in the months ahead.

“There are some headwinds for the Melbourne property market coming up as the impact of the interest rates continue to feed through, particularly with the fixed rate mortgages reset.”

Meanwhile, a one-bedroom apartment in Port Melbourne with sweeping city views sold for $715,000.

The unit at 33/8 Graham Street in The Park Apartments block had a reserve of $650,000 and the guide was between $620,000 and $670,000.

The open-plan apartment on the fourth level of the building featured a balcony and panoramic views facing north-west.

About 50 people gathered for the auction held in the Lagoon Reserve dog park, in front of the building.

There were two active bidders. A buyer’s advocate acted on behalf of the winners, casting a $650,000 bid to begin.

Biggin & Scott auctioneer David Lack was surprised at the hot start and the hammer fell after nine bids.

“It started aggressively at $650,000. I was going to start the auction at $600,000, so they really jumped to it. Every time I got the underbidder to put a bid in, they would trump it,” he said.

Lack said the winners were a semi-retired couple who will live in the apartment, following a trend of strong owner-occupier activity.

“The last 20 properties my team has sold have all gone to owner-occupiers. There are investors out there, but we’re seeing [the market] being driven by the owner-occupiers who are prepared to pay more than investors.”

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