St Kilda apartment sells for $537,000

An investor outbid three homeowners for the keys to a gutted flat in St Kilda and won $67,000 over the reserve at Saturday’s auction.

The unit is at 15/19 Redan StreetThe apartment, which has two large, bright bedrooms, is listed with a guide price of $450,000 to $495,000, with a reserve of $470,000.

McGrath St Kilda listing real estate agent Nicole Prime said the auction started with a bid of $350,000, but after the auctioneer joked it was too low, the male bidder agreed to go for $400,000.

“He basically propositioned himself; it was a good sense of humor,” Prime said. The bidder was soon joined by three more, trading 42 bids in increments of $10,000, $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000 until one of them reached the asking price of $537,000.

“Even though it was a strange apartment, there was a good energy at the auction,” Prime said. “They are gutted, but it takes less work than you think.”

He said the market is becoming more consistent as buyers and sellers become more accepting of interest rates.

“The situation is stable and there’s not much talk about interest rates; there’s an acceptance of that, a sense that people are moving forward. Everyone seems to have accepted the market,” Prime said.

A four-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse in Melbourne’s western suburbs has sold for $770,000 following a bidding war between six lots.