First home buyer snaps up property for $680,000 in post-auction negotiations

When the price reached $2.4 million, two more $10,000 bids were enough to stir up trouble, and the house sold to a couple for $2.42 million.

The reserve was $2.1 million. Records show the home last traded in 1977 for $52,500.

The sellers’ youngest son, who declined to give his name, said, “He got emotional because I grew up in this house.”

His family ran a Chinese restaurant on Chapel Street, but they have since downsized and decided to sell.

“I was really happy that it was sold to a family and not torn down by a developer,” he said.

“Me and my sister are really happy that it went to someone who will fix it up and keep it the way it is because it’s a really special place.”

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Buxton Stonnington selling agent Harley Toyle said much of the buyer interest during the campaign had come from homeowners looking to preserve and renovate the Edwardian house, and even interested developers were looking to extend and renovate it.

He said the market is stable and this result is remarkable, but he thinks the inner-city Windsor neighborhood has a big pull factor.

“Prices are what they are, and most buyers take that into account,” he said.

“I think it will not have a material impact whether we take a rate cut or not, there is still good buyer activity.”

A young couple buying a home for the first time in Reservoir paid $735,000 for a townhouse on a 190 square meter block.

Two bedroom house 1/82 Leamington StreetPriced at $650,000 to $715,000, it attracted two bidders and was sold in post-auction negotiations.

Ray White Reservoir sales representative Alastair Surtees said bidding started at $660,000 and rose to the $700,000 range, but the house was later delivered.

The reserve is hovering around the high end of the range, around $700,000, he said.

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Following the auction, a price of $735,000 was negotiated. Sellers are upgrading.

Surtees said the Reservoir market was very good, with many young people moving to the area, and the Australian Government’s 5% Deposit Scheme was now open to an unlimited number of first home buyers.

“When interest rates drop, people have more money to spend,” he said.

“The sub-$1 million market is doing really well.”

A first home buyer paid $680,000 for a Moorabbin unit in post-auction negotiations on Saturday, picking up the keys from investor sellers for less than the price it last sold for in January last year.

Renovated two-bedroom unit 2/97 Rowans Road It was listed with a price guide of $650,000 to $690,000.

The Moorabbin unit market is Melbourne’s fastest growing property market. According to Domain data, the average unit price in Moorabbin was $752,500, up 26.5 per cent in the 12 months to September; This is the strongest increase of any suburb in terms of units or housing.

However, the growth of the area was not enough for the house with a good appearance to reach its final sales price. Public records show the home last traded in 2024 for $710,000.

Selling agent Brian Lewin of Lewin Real Estate said three interested first home buyers attended the Moorabbin auction, but not everyone attended.

Trading began with a dealer bid of $650,000, the low end of the offered price range, before live bidding was placed at $670,000. The auction was then stopped.

The house was transferred at this level and sold to the bidder in post-auction negotiations for the reserve price of $680,000.

Lewin understands the buyer was using the Australian Government’s 5% Deposit Scheme, which was expanded in October to allow an unlimited number of buyers to buy. He said overall interest in the program was good.

“The market is really good, the market is really strong. It’s probably up 10 percent in the last 12 weeks,” he said.

Elsewhere, another first home buyer using this scheme won the keys to a Mernda home for $738,500.

Transactions for a four-bedroom house 12 Plugges Street Nelson Alexander Reservoir sales representative Monica Chen said it started with the auctioneer placing a bid of $680,000, then three parties competed.

He said the auction was slow, with bids generally going up for $1,000 and $500. The reserve price reached $730,000 and sold as high as $738,500, where it sold. The price guide on the property was $680,000 to $730,000.

“I think it’s a fair and reasonable outcome,” Chen said, adding that its recent sales in Bundoora, Lalor and Thomastown, which are slightly closer to the city, were more popular.

“A lot of people still want a full block of land, closer to town.”

Mernda’s median home price was $720,000, up 3.8 percent from September. The address was last traded for $225,000 in 2017, when records showed it was vacant land.