Moonee Ponds home sells for $40,000 less than last time
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Key points
- An Armadale house sold for $2.29 million under the hammer.
- Agents say the latest interest rate rise is starting to bite.
Property listings
A two-bedroom Moonee Ponds home sold for $1.14 million post-auction on Saturday, fetching $40,000 less than what it traded for in 2017.
The cute-as-a-button Victorian-era home at 67 Bowen Street drew a crowd of about 25 people, but just one bid of $1.1 million from a buyer’s advocate, before passing in.
Nelson Alexander Kensington auctioneer Josh Kalender called for a $10,000 rise after the opening bid, but no other offers came, even after the auction was paused to consult the vendors.
The advocate then negotiated a post-auction deal on behalf of his client, who was an investor.
Nelson Alexander Kensington’s Jon McKenna said the vendors had been very realistic about the sale, especially given the market had been hit by a series of interest rate rises. The latest on Tuesday took the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.
Nelson Alexander Kensington auctioneer Josh Kalender calls for bids during the Moonee Ponds auction.Credit: Melissa Heagney-Bayliss
They had advertised the house with a $1.05 million to $1.15 million price guide, below the $1.18 million that records show the home last traded for in 2017.
McKenna said the sale was a good result, given market conditions had changed radically in recent months as interest rates climbed.
He said younger first home buyers were more concerned about the rise in interest rates than older buyers.
“There was a young couple in the crowd who had inspected the home a few times – but they said they were expecting a lot more [homes] to come onto the market and wanted to wait,” McKenna said.
The Moonee Ponds sale was one of 968 auctions scheduled on Saturday in Melbourne, with numbers bouncing back after a quiet Melbourne Cup long weekend
In Armadale, two investors competed for a three-bedroom Edwardian home at 37 Stuart Street.
The property sold for $2.29 million to an expatriate investor keen to get into the Armadale market. The result was $180,000 more than the reserve price, and surpassed the $2 million to $2.1 million guide.
Bidding for the home opened on a $2 million offer from Property Bureau buyer’s advocate Alastair Mairs, and rises of mostly $20,000 followed.
In the end, Mairs won the keys for his client, who is based in Hong Kong.
Jellis Craig Stonnington’s Carla Fetter said the vendor was also an investor who was selling up because they no longer needed the home.
“When I listed the house I didn’t anticipate it would be bought by another investor,” she said.
Though investors are less common in the current market, they are finding opportunities to buy as there are fewer bidders and less competition at auctions, Mairs said.
“There was only two of us involved today … and it’s only six to seven weeks before the market shuts down for the year, so I think [the impact of interest rate rises] are being offset by a shortage of stock and because people want to get something over the line before Christmas,” he said.
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