A local buyer has secured a coveted piece of Black Rock’s Golden Triangle precinct, buying a five-bedroom house at a rapid-fire virtual auction for $2.76 million – $360,000 more than the top end of the asking price range.
Two persistent bidders battled it out for the house at 12 Glenmore Crescent, with bidding slow to start, but eventually taking off as both prospective buyers pulled out all the stops to win the keys.
It was one of 205 auctions scheduled to go ahead as virtual auctions in Melbourne on Saturday.
By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 60.3 per cent from 123 reported results, while 56 auctions were withdrawn.
Of the auctions that did go ahead as virtual auctions, 71 per cent sold. And 36 homes sold at auction, while 72 homes sold before auction.
The generous home on 918 square metres was listed just under two weeks ago with an asking range of $2.2 million to $2.4 million.
Buyers had 10 days to view the property in person at a private inspection before Melbourne’s stage 4 COVID-19 restrictions came into effect, moving all inspections online, and prompting Ray White Carnegie agent and auctioneer Tom Grieve to bring the auction forward from August 22.
Stage 4 also mandates agents working from home and not their offices, meaning agents who were conducting virtual auctions today did so from home.
“We have our online auction gear set up in our office, and I literally just packed it up and set it up in my garage,” Mr Grieve said.
Despite this being “a bit unusual” the auction went off without a hitch. Mr Grieve started the proceedings with a vendor bid of $2.15 million, which was hesitantly met by the eventual buyer.
One other bidder jumped in and the race was on – first in $25,000 increments and then, after Mr Grieve confirmed with the vendor that the property was on the market at $2.45 million, in $10,000 and $5000 bids.
Vendor Nigel Beeby said he was pleased with the result, especially since COVID-19 had made selling more challenging. He said he decided to press on with the auction as he had recently lost work due to the pandemic.
“It’s a relief in these times,” Mr Beeby said. “The online auction was actually a better experience, I think, than being out in the cold in front of the house.”
Mr Grieve said it could be four or five years before another home in the tightly held area came onto the market – and buyers were keen to get in.
“Even at the best of times, people love this street,” he said.
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