Clifton Hill renters beat investor to buy $1.5m house in their neighbourhood

A pair of Clifton Hill tenants will have an easy time moving into their new home, after paying $1,455,000 at auction to buy a house just down the road from their rental.

The two-bedroom, two-level house at 34 Grant Street was built about 25 years ago, and has had a more recent renovation to update its style. Nelson Alexander selling agent Roland Paterson listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.25 million to $1.35 million.

Buyers Konrad and Anna, who declined to give their last names, said buying into the tiny inner north suburb was a non-negotiable.

“We’re excited to have finally found a place,” Anna said.

Konrad added: “We’ve been looking for a while and definitely wanted Clifton Hill. We’ve seen a few places around, but it’s a little bit hard to buy in Clifton Hill. They don’t come up that much.”

The auction began on a bid of $1.2 million by the only other bidder, an investor who had plans to move into the home later. Both parties traded $10,000 bids past the reserve price of $1.35 million and beyond, until they came down to $2500 increments for the last two bids.

“We’ve got something we actually like and [we haven’t had] to make, really, any compromises,” Konrad said. “And we didn’t have to forgo too many European holidays with those $10,000 [bids] going up every 10 seconds.”

The property was one of 1076 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 72.6 per cent from 819 reported results throughout the week, while 64 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Williamstown, a four-bedroom house sold to a returning expat in a slow-to-start auction.

The home at 8 Mullins Court has bay views, large living areas, and three bathrooms.

The Agency selling agent Leigh Melbourne listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $2.5 million to $2.6 million. He said the reserve was set at the top of the range.

The auction began on a bid of $2.4 million. “It was a bit quiet at the start because no one wanted to start,” Melbourne said.

The house sold for $2.75 million under the hammer. The three bidders were all looking to call the property home, he said.

“They were quite keen,” Melbourne said. “The underbidder inspected the property three times. And the [third bidder] just turned up on the day.”

In Richmond, a terrace sold for $1.36 million at auction on Saturday, after a quick contest between three young couples.

The two-bedroom house at 90 Lord Street has been updated and is next door to a kindergarten that was built by the vendors, BigginScott auctioneer and selling agent Edward Hobbs said. He listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.15 million to $1.25 million.

“It had a nice feel and there were a lot of compliments on the owners’ presentation,” Hobbs said.

The auction began on a vendor bid at the bottom of the range. Hobbs said two couples went head-to-head until the price reached the reserve of $1.25 million. At that point, the successful bidders joined the fray and pushed the price to $110,000 above the reserve.

“I reckon by about 10.09am we were done with the auction,” Hobbs said. “At 10.19am we were all signed up and putting up the sold sticker. It was done in 20 minutes.”

Hobbs said Reserve Bank rate cuts had stimulated the market. “It was a good, old-school competitive auction,” he said. “With three interest rate cuts and the talk of a fourth, it feels like there’s some good, buoyant energy.”

“It feels a bit patchy, but we’ve had some good results today. It was a bit lumpy there for some time.”

In Carlton North, a corner terrace sold after an auction that attracted just one bid.

The two-bedroom house at 662 Lygon Street was a rental but has an updated bathroom. Jellis Craig selling agent Charles Atkins listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.1 million to $1.2 million. The reserve was at the top of the range.

“It was really well presented and positioned well on the corner of Lee and Lygon [streets], so it had a lot of north light coming through,” Atkins said. “It had a more desirable floor plan, with a central bathroom.”

The only bidders were a couple who had sold up in Melbourne’s north-east and wanted to be closer to their children, who live in the inner north. They placed a bid of $1.13 million after the auction opened on a vendor bid of $1.12 million.

The couple later paid $1.19 million in negotiations after the auction.