Punters fail to disrupt exclusive Melbourne auctions
Democracy and luxury homes seem to go together nicely. Photo: Marshall White
Despite the Victorian state election, blue-chip Armadale has just pipped Toorak to take Melbourne’s priciest weekend auction result, with the best of working-class Maribyrnong in a surprise third place.
The Adelaide Street, Armadale result was $5,678,500 with three bidders competing for the signature Wayne Gillespie-designed home set within Paul Bangay-designed gardens with pool.
The three-bedroom home on 759 square metres last traded for $485,000 in 1993.
There was a $5.62 million sale in neighbouring Toorak with just the two bidders for 7 Torresdale Court, which was listed with a $4.8 million to $5.2 million price guidance.
It was announced on the market at $5.4 million.
Despite the Victorian election, Melbourne still managed a $5.6 million sale in Armadale. Photo: Marshall White
Leafy suburb, leafy property. The exclusive home is shielded on all sides by trees. Photo: Marshall White
Despite the foliage, the interior gets year-round northern sun. Photo: Marshall White
The main bedroom is reached by staircase. Talk about picturesque. Photo: Marshall White
Maribyrnong had the third-highest weekend result across Melbourne when Grandview, a riverfront reserve home fetched $4.14 million.
The price guidance for the four-bedroom house on 1890 square metres at 96 The Esplanade had been $3.6 million to $3.95 million.
The ANZ-backed REALas price tipping website was well off the pace with their forecast $3.66 million advisory.
The strip’s previous highest recorded result was $3.4 million last year.
The highest house sale across the capital cities at weekend auctions was at Drummoyne in Sydney for $5.8 million.
The 53 Dening Street home was reported by The Sunday Telegraph to have sold for $650,000 above reserve, after three local Chinese families competed.
The vendors had bought the 771-square-metre battleaxe block for $1.45 million in 2004 before construction of its Richard Archer-designed home, which cost $1.5 million to build.
This luxurious Drummoyne home was Australia’s top sale over the weekend. Photo: Ray White
And it’s easy to see why. Photo: Ray White
The three levels are all connected by – wait for it – an elevator. Photo: Ray White
The kitchen connects to the spacious outdoor area. Photo: Ray White
The agents spruiked it as “one of the finest properties to come onto the Drummoyne market”. Photo: Ray White
There’s even a fully equipped bar. Photo: Ray White
The new owners are in for a treat. Photo: Ray White
Across Australian capital cities, there were 2689 homes taken to auction over the past week, much lower than the same time last year when 3438 auctions were held across the combined capital cities.
Preliminary results show a national clearance rate of 46.9 per cent this week.
One year ago, a clearance rate of 61.1 per cent was recorded, CoreLogic noted.
“As final results are collected we will likely see the clearance rate revise down below 45 per cent for the fourth consecutive week,” CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said.
Melbourne was host to 1137 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 44 per cent, up from last week when the final clearance rate dropped to 41.3 per cent across 1401 auctions.
On the same weekend last year, the Melbourne auction clearance rate was 65.5 per cent from 1736 auctions.
Preston topped the list as the busiest suburb across the nation with 18 homes scheduled for auction, followed by Northcote (17) and Epping (16).
Preston results ranged between $572,000 for a two-bedroom High Street apartment and $1.2 million for a four-bedroom house.
There were 1021 auctions held in Sydney this week, making it the fifth busiest week of 2018 for the city with preliminary results showing a 52.4 per cent clearance rate, up from 42.8 per cent across 875 auctions last week.
“It’s possible that when the final results are released the clearance rate may just hold above 45 per cent, after falling below that for four of the past five weeks,” Mr Brogan said.
Across the smaller auction markets, Adelaide was the top performer at 52.4 per cent.
Adelaide’s 82 results included the nation’s cheapest sale.
It was a three-bedroom decease estate at 34 Anderson Walk, Smithfield that fetched $166,000.
Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer
