Auctions tank, but Buddy Franklin is smiling
Plummeting clearance rates didn't seem to hurt the AFL star. Photo: Getty / Jellis Craig
Sydney Swans champion Lance “Buddy” Franklin secured the weekend sale of his Donvale investment property.
It sold under the hammer for $1.415 million having been the home of his father, Lance Sr, who had recently moved from Melbourne back to Perth.
The Herald Sun reported the AFL star’s property was bought by a Chinese migrant who had been in the country for only a fortnight.
Franklin bought the house for $863,500 in 2008, the same year as his first premiership with Hawthorn.
The Palladian-inspired executive home had been listed through Jellis Craig with expectations of between $1.4 million and $1.5 million.
Buddy Franklin bought the Melbourne home for his father. Photo: Jellis Craig
What’s not to like? Double storey, with modern layout and plenty of space. Photo: Jellis Craig
The main bedroom is described as “palatial”. Photo: Jellis Craig
It even has its own private garden courtyard. Photo: Jellis Craig
There were 2384 auctions held across the capital cities, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 46.8 per cent.
Alarmingly, the average national clearance rate continued to track below 50 per cent for the seventh consecutive weekend.
“Given this week’s preliminary result is the lowest we’ve seen yet, it’s likely that as final results are collected, this week’s final clearance rate could come in lower again, potentially nudging the low-40 per cent range,” CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said.
“This is a considerably softer trend to what was seen over the same period last year when clearance rates were tracking around the low to mid-60 per cent range.”
The national weakening saw every capital city sit below 50 per cent, led by Melbourne and Sydney which have accounted for 83 per cent of all auctions held so far this year.
Volumes were relatively steady across Sydney week on week with 830 auctions held, up on the 813 held last week.
The nation’s top auction sale was Lakonia at Chiswick, where 29 Hezlet Street sold through Fayez Yammine at Devine Real Estate for $5.95 million.
The price guide for the five-bedroom home set on the Parramatta River had been $5.5 million.
The property, which attracted six registered bidders, was passed in at $5.7 million who then shortly after lifted their offer by $250,000.
Fairfax Media reported a $30 million private treaty sale in Vaucluse, although it was still listed as for sale on the Sotheby’s website.
The harbourfront Loch Maree had been initially listed earlier this year at $32 million by the hotelier Jerry Schwartz.
Sydney’s auction clearance rate is heading toward a 30-year low, according to Domain, which had its preliminary clearance rate at 41 per cent.
Melbourne had a preliminary clearance rate of 48 per cent, with 1141 auctions held across the city.
Its top sale was at Glen Iris.
Koonwarra, at 29 Dorrington Avenue, fetched $3.85 million.
The single-level residence was available for sale for the first time since it was built in 1921.
The price guidance had been $3.5 million to $3.75 million.
There was just the one bidder when a vacated timber Port Melbourne cottage offering sold for $860,000, which reflected a loss on its prior sale.
A builder made a $810,000 bid and secured it post-auction.
The price guidance had been $800,000 to $880,000 for the property marketed as a blank canvas.
There had been a $964,000 sale of the one-bedroom cottage at 58 Station Street in June last year.
Adelaide recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 47.5 per cent, while in Perth only 20 per cent of auctions cleared.
Canberra, which had a 45 per cent success rate, had its top sale in Griffith at $2.65 million.
The 47 Barrallier Street offering was a two-level modern home with three-metre ceilings.
The nation’s cheapest weekend sale was a two-bedroom villa at 3/414 Blackshaws Road, Altona North.
The Melbourne offering fetched $259,000 having been listed with $240,000 to $260,000 hopes.
It last sold for $70,000 in 1990.
It was a $210-a-week rental in 2013.
Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer
