Add CategoryMelbourne’s auction market is back in action, kicking into gear with a wave of coastal sales.
The Mornington Peninsula was the city’s hot spot for auctions, with holiday-makers and househunters heading to the beach for the Australia Day weekend.
In keeping with the coastal vibe, two beach boxes faced the auction block with one buyer splashing big cash to land the sale.
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Boat shed 39 in Blairgowrie had two bidders vie for the keys and sold for an undisclosed figure, believed to be close to $350,000.
“It was called on the market within the quoted range (of $279,000-$299,000) and it just went off from there,” Hocking Stuart director Tim Bradler said.
“The buyer was a local, he lives a couple of streets back and wanted somewhere to store his stand-up board and wind sailing board and to read a book away from the crowds.”
He said it was one very expensive “storage box”.
The owners of boat shed 37 at Shelly Beach, Portsea, were unable to find a buyer for their rare masonry box, which is now on the market for private sale at $350,000.
RT Edgar director Warwick Anderson said he negotiated with a few buyers after the auction but the stone shed in a popular location was still up for grabs.
Realestate.com.au figures show Victoria returned a clearance rate of 75 per cent from 59 reported auction results last week.
The clearance rate shows the market has bounced back after last summer’s downturn, when CoreLogic recorded a 52 per cent clearance rate for the week ending with Australia Day.
One of the top results returned on Melbourne’s first notable auction week for the year was a dilapidated Sorrento house.
The original 1950s three-bedroom house on a 1403sq m block at 745 Melbourne Rd sold for an eye-watering $1.325 million.
CoreLogic records show the property last changed hands for a mere $26,000 in 1979.
Realestate.com.au expects 215 homes to go under the hammer across Victoria this week, including 132 in Melbourne, a big jump on last week’s auction activity.
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