Tim Heavyside

𝐀𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.

In Burwood East, the four-bedroom, family home at 4 Skene Street offered scope for renovation and attracted six bidders to the online auction. Bidding began at the bottom of the price guide and rose fast, in a mix of increments mostly ranging from $10,000 down to $1,000. The race for the keys narrowed to two bidders, with the home selling under the hammer for $1.663 million.

Auctioneer Ben Williams said, “the market is holding up really well since we have come out of the lockdown period for real estate…there has been a lot more stock…demand is still far outstripping supply”. He said that buyers had become comfortable with the online method, which is why the sale went ahead virtually rather than in person.

Our team’s two auctions were called in Surrey Hills on Saturday morning, adopting the ‘hybrid’ style with both on-site and online bidders participating. The auction of 4/18 Essex Road in Surrey Hills saw a total of five bidders participate – two online and three on-site. The auction lasted for an hour, as I patiently fielded the bids traded between the parties. The successful bidder secured the keys to the home, when it was knocked down at $901,000. The following auction at 2/26 Florence Road was a much quicker affair with two bidders, with the property selling for $755,000.

In Malvern East, the auction of 12A Warida Avenue was also held on the street, seeing two bidders compete for the three-bedroom, single level home. The private, conveniently located home went on to sell for $1,013,000.

Online, the magnificently renovated and extended family home at 8 Tyrrell Street in Mont Albert North attracted five bidders and sold for $2,205,000.

In other property news, the Domain Group reports that some home sellers have brought forward their listings in hopes of getting the best price, before new mortgage rules kick in and reduce the budgets of potential buyers. Potential buyers who are hoping to borrow the maximum amount are also rushing to get in before the cut-off at the end of October.Property buyers will be assessed to ensure they could repay their loans, should the interest rates rise 3 percentage points, up from 2.5 per cent previously, under recently announced rules by bank regulator the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) that are likely to cut buyers’ maximum borrowing capacity by about 5 per cent.

But with only 8 per cent of applicants borrowing their maximum, on Commonwealth Bank figures, most buyers are unaffected, meaning property prices are likely to keep pushing higher, albeit not at the same pace.

As Victoria is set to reach the 80 per cent double-dose vaccination milestone, open for inspections will also make a return with a capacity limit of 150 attendees. Both inspection and auction attendees are required to be double vaccinated and, of course, must check-in upon arrival.

𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.