An all-white two-bedroom Victorian terrace in Armadale sold at auction for $1,571,000 on Saturday, with two bidders pushing it almost $100,000 above its reserve.
The updated one-bathroom home at 15 New Street features an open-plan entertaining and dining room at the rear, with wraparound decking leading onto a small, lush garden.
It had a price guide of $1.35 million to $1,475,000 (also its reserve price).
Marshall White Stonnington agent and auctioneer David Stringer said bidding opened at $1.35 million, and continued with a succession of $20,000 and $10,000 bids as the property rocketed past the $1.47 million mark.
Stringer declared the home on the market at $1.48 million, before increments winnowed to $5000 and eventually $1000 bids brought the auction to a close.
Stringer said the winning bidders were a couple, with the vendor having recently bought nearby for a change of lifestyle. She had lived in the property for 31 years after buying it in 1994 for $234,000.
He said the vendor was happy with the eventual price, but noted the guide was reduced from $1.55 million at the start of the campaign following low inspection attendance.
“It’s really hard to price real estate at the moment. That’s the bottom line,” said Stringer, who pointed to consecutive interest rate hikes and general uncertainty in the market.
“But the vendors that are listening, presenting their properties well and promoting them well, they’re getting them sold,” he said.
The property was one of 1085 scheduled to go to auction across Melbourne on Saturday.
Further south, a three-bedroom townhouse in Bentleigh East passed in at $990,000 at auction, well below the $1,089,000 reserve.
The large, open-plan modern home at 2/58 Wingate Street has an expansive rear deck, two bathrooms and a full-size carport and garage, and had a price guide of $940,000 to $1.03 million.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.
Anthony Fordham, agent and auctioneer at Jellis Craig Bentleigh, said bidding opened at $940,000, the bottom of the reserve, with two bidders trading $10,000 increments until the property was passed in with a vendor’s bid at $990,000.
The vendor was relocating to be closer to his work in West Melbourne, Fordham said, and the two bidders were a downsizer and a couple hoping to relocate from Altona.
Fordham said he was negotiating with a prospective buyer and expected the property to sell on Saturday afternoon.
