A two-story terrace overlooking Darling Gardens in Clifton Hill was passed in at auction on Saturday after failing to attract a single bid.
Arch Staver of Nelson Alexander Fitzroy opened the auction with a vendor’s bid of $3.8 million but was unable to entice any of the 40 or so onlookers, many of whom were huddled beneath umbrellas.
Elsie Leigh, at 231 Gold Street, was built around 1885 in the decorative Boom-era style. It was one of 1148 auctions scheduled across Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group had determined that 77.3 percent of 887 reported results had been cleared.
Despite losing at auction, Mr Staver was confident the home, which had been in the same family for over two decades and had been renovated ten years ago, would sell within days.
“This will be sold within a few days. There is no doubt. Houses similar to this one have been selling for well over $4 million in this area.”
Mr Staver stated that at least one interested party was present at a nearby prestige auction at the time. However, he anticipated receiving offers on the magnificent period home as early as Sunday.
“We have two parties meeting tomorrow to discuss it and hope to have it resolved in a few days,” he said on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Staver insisted that despite a lackluster auction, there were plenty of buyers willing to splash out on multimillion-dollar homes. He does not believe that proposed increases in stamp duty and land tax on high-end property buyers – which are expected to be announced in next week’s budget – will slow the top end of Melbourne’s property market.
Earlier this month, a Knight Frank report revealed that Melbourne’s prime property market – defined as the top 5% of the market – accelerated in the March quarter.
The report found that Melbourne’s prime market increased by 0.4 percent in the March quarter, more than doubling the previous quarter’s 0.2 percent increase.
Mr Staver stated that the recently announced increases in stamp duty on properties similar to the one he auctioned on Saturday would not deter buyers.
“While the changes may be inconvenient for some, they will not prevent people from purchasing at that end of the market,” he explained.
In South Melbourne, despite the uncertainty surrounding Victoria’s planned stamp duty increase on properties valued at more than $2 million, a two-story terrace house auction took off.
The three-bedroom home at 16 Bridport Street was listed between $2.55 million and $2.7 million with a reserve price of $2.85 million.
However, after a bidding war between five bidders, the residence sold for $3.24 million to a professional couple.
“Despite all that [uncertainty], it flew,” Warwick Gardiner of Greg Hocking Holdsworth said.
“Given the interest in high-quality period homes at that end, I don’t believe it will have a significant impact on people’s purchasing decisions.”
A Californian bungalow in Thornbury set a suburb record when it sold for $2.465 million at auction.
