Strange tactics proved fruitful for one buyer on Melbourne’s final auction weekend before stage four lockdown restrictions.
Property inspections can only be able to be conducted online across the city over the next six weeks.
All auctions will also be digital, as regional Victoria, now under stage three restrictions, also shifts online. Private inspections will still be allowed regionally, though.
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Victorian Government information state Melbourne property operators and real estate services are required to close on-site from 11.59pm Wednesday.
Momentum was maintained at a Heatherton auction on the first weekend of August by the eventual buyer, bidding against himself to spook his main opponent.
The unconventional tactic worked for the buyer and seller at 37 Golf View Road, with the former paying a $25,000 premium for the keys to the four-bedroom house.
The property fetched $860,000 for its vendor, who watched the online auction live.
“He was texting his wife rolling updates and he was absolutely over the moon when it sold,” EYS Auctions director Fabian Sanelli said.
The auctioneer said the “interesting tactic” was a way of keeping other buyers on their toes.
“I guess by doing that you in a way show a bit of aggression and strength,” Mr Sanelli said.
“By keeping on placing bids, you’re forcing your competitor to rethink their next step — it gives you more opportunity to throw them off.”
It came as realestate.com.au recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 73 per cent from 162 reported auctions across Melbourne.
That figure was a slight improvement from the 70 per cent clearance rate, based on 140 auctions, recorded the previous week.
It was a case of love at first sight for the first-home buyers that won the keys to 23 Gleeson Drive, Bundoora.
The couple paid $813,500 for the tastefully updated three-bedroom house.
“They fell in love the first time they saw it,” Barry Plant North Eastern Group partner Michael Egan said. “She mentioned after the auction that as soon as she saw it she knew she was buying it — there was very much an emotional attachment.”
That heartfelt interest allowed the vendor to pocket $33,500 above the reserve price for the house.
Four groups competed, with first and second-home buyers competing against an investor for the 542sq m block.
“We’ve had some great success with the online system, we’re finding buyers are comfortable with it,” Mr Egan said.
The agent said that from the comfort of their own homes, property hunters were happier to disclose their price expectations.
“In the street everyone’s trying to be a little less open,” he said.
“If you’re in the comfort of your own home, you don’t have to hide your emotions.
Close to 100 bids were needed to break the deadlock at 11 Talbot Road, Mount Waverley, which sold for $1.07m.
The property was announced on the market at a bid of $991,000.
“Everyone just wanted it,” Harcourts Judd White director Dexter Prack said.
“The ones that are reasonably priced you can see that people are definitely still there.”
A Melbourne buyer had to find a friend to do the bidding for them at the auction of 4 Lichen Grove, Highton.
Five groups competed at the auction, which was conducted publicly because of different restrictions in Geelong and regional Victoria.
The property sold for $710,000, after being quoted with a price range of $650,000-$715,000.
Barry Plant Geelong agent Michael Falzon said the auction was “very competitive”, with the buyer motivated to land-bank in the tightly held street.
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