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‘Glamping’ getaway shack attracts big bids

It may be remote – but it still has TV and internet.

It may be remote – but it still has TV and internet. Photo: Pat Rice & Hawkins

A getaway shack on a rock escarpment in the Tallarook ranges, just over an hour north of Melbourne up the Hume Freeway, sold at its weekend onsite auction.

The rustic single-room cabin, set on a 27-hectare holding, fetched $375,000, when offered through agents Pat Rice & Hawkins.

It was bought by a buyer from Toorak.

The cabin sits on a granite tor with a large timber deck.

It has its own portable toilet.

The vendors have harvested rainwater and installed a portable solar system to provide the basic home comforts at the getaway.

The cabin structure was originally built by people with interests in the caravan industry so it is quite sturdy and easy to maintain, the agents said.

It last sold for $105,000 in 2014.

The vacant block sold for $18,000 in 1992.

The vendors say 470 Ennis Road, Tallarook had been their ‘glamping’ destination, offering seclusion, interesting local vegetation, with no shortage of firewood, plus some amazing wildlife.

Buyers were assured the location also provided good internet and television reception.

Set about 400 metres above the surroundings, there are views to the south and west firstly over the township of Broadford in the mid foreground and to the Macedon Ranges in the distance.

The vendors are off to a farm near Hamilton in the western district.

The marketing did not show the interior, with the agents expecting the auction offers would begin from $200,000.

It may not look like much, but the shack has solar panels, a rainwater tank, and TV and internet. Photo: Pat Rice & Hawkins

The seclusion and spectacular views must have been the biggest selling points. Photo: Pat Rice & Hawkins

Naturally, there is plenty of firewood. Photo: Pat Rice & Hawkins

The sellers said they enjoyed camping in comfort at the shack. Photo: Pat Rice & Hawkins

The most expensive house sold in Victoria was 14 Christowel Street, Camberwell which fetched $3.125 million.

It was at the lower end of the Noel Jones agency price guidance which had been $3.1 million to $3.4 million.

The five-bedroom 1920s home sat on a 1172-square-metre block with a towering copper beech tree in its front yard.

There was a blue slate fireplace in the 9.1-metre-long grand sitting room.

Auction activity across the combined capital cities increased after last weekend’s grand final and public holiday slowdown.

camberwell

Space galore – five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a whopping four car spaces at this Camberwell home. Photo: Noel Jones

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The sitting room definitely earned the term ‘grand’. Photo: Noel Jones

camberwell

At a price tag of $3.125 million, it was at the lower end of what the buyers had hoped for. Photo: Noel Jones

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But that price still made it Victoria’s priciest sale. Photo: Noel Jones

camberwell

The buyers certainly didn’t seem deterred by the state of the backyard. Photo: Noel Jones

Some 1809 homes were taken to auction, almost doubling from the 895 prior tally.

The preliminary auction clearance rate was 53.7 per cent, well up on the final auction clearance rate of 45.8 per cent of the long weekend.

It had been the lowest clearance rate seen since June 2012, when there was a 42 per cent result.

Compared to one year ago, clearance rates and auction volumes continue to track lower with the same week last year recording a 64.4 per cent clearance rate across 2318 auctions.

Melbourne saw 904 homes taken to auction with a preliminary 54.4 per cent success rate, according to CoreLogic.

Sydney returned a preliminary auction clearance of 53.5 per cent, with 606 Sydney homes taken to auction.

Its highest sale was $3.7 million pre-auction through Ray White of a grand 1930s Stockbroker Tudor-style home at Warrawee.

Framed by parterre gardens, the five bedroom John Brogan designed home at 32 Heydon Avenue had last sold at $1.78 million in 2003.

The dearest Sydney offering to sell under the auction hammer was at Bronte, where a home last traded six decades ago fetched $3,565,000.

The four-bedroom property on a 452-square-metre block at 8 Gardyne Street fetched $65,000 above reserve.

Phillips Pantzer Donnelley’s Alexander Phillips had three buyers register and all participated, but it was a struggle, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

Adelaide was the best-performing capital city with a 66.1 per cent success rate across 62 auction results. It was followed by Canberra, where 63.9 per cent of the 61 reported auctions were successful.

Adelaide’s sales ranged from the $305,000 pre-auction sale of the three-bedroom home at 15 Fourth Street, Wingfield to $1,255,000 for the five-bedroom house at 53 Marlborough Road, Westbourne Park, which had a $990,000 price guidance.

The 1968 single-level brick Wingfield house sold for $205,000 in 2007.

At $210,000, Brisbane’s fringe had the cheapest reported result when 22 Ash Avenue, Laidley found its buyer.

The four-bedroom home was a mortgagee in possession offering.

It previously traded in 2009 at $129,000.

Brisbane’s clearance rate was 41 per cent.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer

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