Brunswick house fails to sell at auction – for second time this winter

A Brunswick house failed to sell at auction for the second time within six weeks despite a $150,000 price cut, and passed in on a vendor bid for a lower price than it fetched five years ago.

The stylish two-bedroom house at 17 Cliff Street came with a spa pool, modern kitchen and bathroom and wood heater, and is now available for private sale, asking $1.25 million.

The property was one of 570 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 58 per cent from 365 reported results throughout the week, while 67 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The early read is similar to last week’s result of 57 per cent but is likely to be revised a few percentage points lower as more results are collected, and it remains below the key 60 per cent threshold considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

It was returned to the market in June this year with a price guide of $1.3 million to $1.4 million, which was later cut to $1.25 million to $1.35 million.

After it passed in in July, its guide was updated to $1,295,000, before a new auction campaign began with a price guide of $1.15 million to $1.25 million.

On Saturday the home drew a crowd of about 30 but did not attract any genuine bids at auction. A vendor bid was placed at $1.17 million but with no further offers forthcoming, the property passed in again. The reserve had been $1.25 million.

Nelson Alexander Brunswick selling agent Jonathan West said two potential owner-occupier buyers are interested, and negotiations are continuing.

He noted that the house had gone to auction in July with a higher guide. “The owner had to lower their expectations,” he said.

West thought the property would be ideal for someone upgrading from an apartment or for a first home buyer, noting its proximity to shopping strip Sydney Road. He said the sellers were moving for work.

Some homes take time to sell, but other listings in his office had sold prior or under the hammer this week , he said.

“There has been some significant, good results, driven by low stock,” he said. “And we are going to see that going into spring.”

Elsewhere, in Abbotsford, a renovated terrace attracted six first home buyer bidders and sold for $1,135,000 under the hammer.

The two-bedroom house at 175 Vere Street had a guide of $900,000 to $990,000 and the reserve was set at the top of the range.