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You’re kitten me: Fitzroy North has a ‘House of Cats’

It was designed with cats in mind.

It was designed with cats in mind. Photo: Nelson Alexander

Buyers from North Queensland have paid $1.3 million post-auction for an award-winning, two-bedroom home that literally translates to ‘house of cats’.

The Spanish-inspired, single-storey 49 Rae Street property named ‘Casa de Gatos’ had come with a $1.2 million to $1.3 million price guidance after its design by WOWOWA Architecture.

The home won the Victorian Australian Institute of Architects 2017 Small Projects Award, expressly designed with the owners’ two dogs and two cats in mind.

Husband-and-wife team Monique and Scott Woodward are the founding directors of WOWOWA – a studio “governed by the metric of happiness”.

Its most striking feature is a curved, carpeted, orange cat wall topped by an aerial cat walkway.

Nelson Alexander agent Rick Daniel told The Age it wasn’t the biggest selling point for the new owners.

rae street

The zany property looks perfectly normal from the outside. Photo: Nelson Alexander

But on the inside, the Fitzroy North best-seller has plenty of quirks. Photo: Nelson Alexander

Obviously, the giant orange cat wall stands out. Photo: Nelson Alexander

There’s also a foldout bed. Photo: Nelson Alexander

A very brightly-tiled bathroom. Photo: Nelson Alexander

And of course, heavy duty benches in the outdoor area. The dogs and cats won’t be chewing on those. Photo: Nelson Alexander

Meanwhile in Sydney an architect spent $1.255 million on a derelict property glamorously dubbed an overgrown Angkor Wat.

The dump, once a boarding house, in the Sydney suburb of Enmore had become so overgrown the listing agent suggested it resembled the famed Cambodian temple where tree roots dominate.

It was obviously such a challenge to rebuild, the property sold at below the $1.3 million price guidance set by its McGrath Newtown listing agent Damien West.

The graffiti-ridden, roofless house at 52 Juliett St had its windows boarded up with corrugated iron.

A roots of a giant fig tree snaked through its interior.

The architect wants to build a designer home on the 228-square-metre block and then on-sell it, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

The property last traded at $7200 in March 1966.

derelict property enmore

How could this block command $1.255 million? It’s in one of Enmore’s best streets. Photo: McGrath

derelict property enmore

Location, location. The agents played up the fact it was in a vibrant neighbourhood. Photo: McGrath

It was one of the limited auction offerings listed across Sydney. CoreLogic put the Sydney clearance rate at just 57.6 per cent.

Melbourne, likewise, had reduced listings as auction volumes fell significantly due to the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. There were just 276 auctions held in Melbourne this week returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 56.1 per cent, the lowest success rate since 2012.

By comparison, last week there were 1079 auctions with a final clearance rate of 59.8 per cent, while this time last year, 75.9 per cent of the 389 auctions held were successful.

As a result, Sydney overtook Melbourne as the busiest city for auctions this weekend, with 414 homes going under the hammer, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 57.6 per cent, compared to last week when just 47.1 per cent of the 837 auctions were successful.

Over the same week last year, there were 619 auctions held in Sydney, returning a clearance rate of 67 per cent.

Melbourne’s top sale was when a Sydney buyer secured a luxury $2.062 million Williamstown townhouse.

The three-bedroom home at 4 Stanley Street was built two years ago, with a rooftop terrace overlooking the bay towards the city.

It had been offered by Williams agent Michael Harvey with $1.8 million to $1.9 million hopes.

With a price guide of about $1.9 million, this Williamstown home exceeded expectations, coming in at Melbourne’s most expensive on $2.062 million. Photo: Williams

it has spectacular views across Port Melbourne. Photo: Williams

The two-storey property has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three entertaining areas. Photo: Williams

The outdoor area also overlooks the street. Photo: Williams

There’s even a small backyard. Photo: Williams

Across the combined capital cities there were 900 homes auctioned, down from 2281 last week.

The preliminary clearance rate for the nation was 55 per cent, up slightly from last week when the final clearance rate came in a 54.1 per cent, the lowest level recorded across the combined capitals since 2012.

“Once the remaining results are collected over the next few days, it is possible that the final clearance rate for this week will revise even lower,” CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said.

Adelaide was the best performing capital with a 65.5 per cent success rate across 29 auction results, followed closely by Canberra, where 65.4 per cent of the 26 reported auctions were successful.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer

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