Interstate buyers pay $1,455,000 for inner-city Victorian

After passing in at an opening bid of $1.4 million, a Victorian Italianate home in East Melbourne adorned with original iron lacework sold to the same bidder for $1,455,000 in post-auction negotiations.

The five-bedroom house at 1091 Hoddle Street, featuring soaring ceilings, decorative plasterwork and marble fireplaces, was listed with a price guide of $1.4 to $1.5 million, with a reserve of $1.5 million.

BigginScott Richmond lead agent Andrew Crotty said while the house attracted interest from three potential buyers, one was unable to bid on the day after failing to get their finances in order, and another was uncertain.

The sole bidder was two men who had moved from interstate and fallen in love with the property.

“They really love the house and a lot of its superior detailing and its size … and now they’re the happy owners of it, and they’ve gone away to celebrate,” Crotty said.

The agent said active buyers should get in the market now, or risk waiting until properties increased in price by another 5 per cent in six months.

“We’re seeing numbers are picking up a little bit … so get in now, particularly in that sort of $1 million to $1.2 million [market],” Crotty said.

“Last week we were noticing that about 50 per cent of the buyers that were coming through our offices were new buyers … which means people are starting to think about entering the market.”

The property was one of 646 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week, the first weekend of the spring selling market.

In the city’s west, a three-bedroom family home passed in on a vendor’s bid of $1.25 million, and will now be moved to private sale with a reserve of $1.36 million.

The updated Californian bungalow at 12 Buninyong Street, Yarraville features a spacious kitchen, neat backyard and is near Yarraville Village, and had a price guide of between $1.2 million and $1.32 million.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Branko Lemaic from Jas Stephens Real Estate said a potential buyer showed interest in the property and came to chat after the auction, but their offer was “not quite at the level needed to put a deal together”.

“This is now a private sale moving forward at $1.36 million,” Lemaic said.

He said while the “general apprehension” was the “overarching theme” around the market, there was still competition for accurately priced properties.

“It’s a bit of a mixed bag overall, but deals are still happening. The length of time properties spend on the market is just stretching out a bit more than when the market is red-hot,” he said.

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Caroline Zielinski is a property reporter at The Age.AdvertisementAdvertisement