Seven minutes of frenzied bidding pushes Melbourne auction $160,000 over reserve

A three-bedroom Victorian home in Richmond, Melbourne notched a $160,000 premium under the hammer on Saturday after three young buyers fought for the keys.

About 50 onlookers spectated the fast-paced auction for 105 Kent St, Richmond, which kicked off with a vendor bid of $1.5m.

But Biggin & Scott Richmond director and auctioneer Edward Hobbs didn’t need to steer the auction much further after a young couple — whose neighbours were bidding on their behalf — placed an offer of $1.51m which ignited a hotly contested tug of war between them and two other buyers.

In just seven minutes offers flew up to the reserve of $1.55m before the period home sold under the hammer for $1.71m to the young couple.

Another couple and a single buyer missed out on the property.

“It was a real old school auction,” Mr Hobbs noted.

”It was hard for me to get any rhythm because (the buyers) just kept jumping in. At one point I just said ‘bid among yourselves’.”

Originally built in 1880, the home last sold in 2017 for $1.53m.

The strong auction was one of 1222 scheduled across the city this week — an increase from last week’s auction volume of 1161, but not quite as strong as this time last year when 1375 properties went under the hammer.

Mr Hobbs also sold a nearby four-bedroom house at 355 Burnley St, Richmond, for $1.95m under the hammer, as well as a two-bedroom house at 6 The Crofts, Richmond, for $1.118m.

Melbourne recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 64.1 per cent, per CoreLogic data, in a slight drop on the amount of homes sold at auction last week (65.2 per cent), but notably more than this time last year when only 58.4 per cent snared a sale.

First-timers and investors battle for house in Sydney’s outer west

Strong results were also seen in Sydney, where 1082 auctions were on the cards for the week compared to just 994 last week.

The auction volume figure was about the same this time last year.

One of the properties that went under the hammer was a three-bedroom house in the outer western Sydney suburb of Doonside.

The 9 Fleming Grove property attracted plenty of competition, with 10 active bidders in attendance including a mix of first-home buyers and investors.

It ended up flying $140,000 over reserve to sell for $1.015m to an investor.

Ray White Quakers Hill agent Sam Yazdi helmed the sale and said the home was listed in a very good price range, and had a swimming pool which was a major drawcard leading into summer.

“It was also in a good location in a cul-de-sac backed onto the reserve,” Mr Yazdi said.

Over in the northwest, a four-bedroom house in Bella Vista sold for $1.756m under the hammer after eight buyers competed at its Saturday auction.

The 59 Skylark Circuit home is located in the coveted Swallow Ridge Estate in proximity to local amenities like public transport, Norwest Marketown, Bella Vista Farm and dining precincts, and is zoned for the Matthew Pearce Public School catchment making it a popular option among families.

The sale contributed to an early clearance rate of 65.1 per cent in Sydney — a fall from last week’s preliminary figure of 68.4 per cent.

In the same week last year 62.5 per cent of homes sold at auction.

2758 auctions were scheduled across Australia’s combined capital cities this week in an increase on last week’s volume of 2640.

However the numbers weren’t quite as high as the same week in 2023, when 2963 properties were scheduled to go under the hammer.

“It looks like the peak volume for spring occurred relatively early this year, with the volume of auctions peaking at 3135 over the last week of October,” CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless noted.

He added that the auction market ended the spring selling season with a “whimper”, with CoreLogic reporting a preliminary clearance rate of 63.4 per cent for the combined capitals, down on last week’s figure of 65.3 per cent.

Last year across the nation just 60.7 per cent of homes sold under the hammer.