‘They were taken by the character’: Family pays $1.7m for architectural gem

An Eltham home designed by an architect sold for $1,703,000 at auction on Saturday to a young family appreciative of its character.

The Alistair Knox-designed house at 35 Floriston Grove is made from mud brick, handmade brick and reclaimed timber, and has floor-to-ceiling windows offering nature views – all features of Knox’s bush modern style.

The property was one of 768 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday night, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 63 per cent from 533 reported results throughout the week, while 68 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The Eltham house dates to 1976 and includes five bedrooms and a separate home office, and was listed with a price guide of $1.6 million to $1.7 million.

Four parties registered to bid and two were active. Bidding began at $1.5 million, by a buyer’s advocate representing the winner.

A vendor bid was placed at $1.6 million and then two parties traded offers of $20,000 at first, then $10,000 bids, and later reduced offers to as small as $500.

The bidding crept $3000 past the reserve of $1.7 million, and the home sold. The winners are moving into the area to be closer to family.

“They were pretty taken by the character of the home,” Jellis Craig Eltham selling agent Tom Kurtschenko said.

“There’s certainly people in market who are looking and waiting for the right home. Everyone was very appreciative of the style and design.”

Kurtschenko noted the reclaimed timer and mud brick and said the sellers – a family with grown children – had kept the home’s original character but modernised it. The underbidder was a local young couple.

More than 120 groups inspected the home, Kurtschenko said.

“There’s definitely buyers out there but they’re a bit more price-sensitive now, they’re not just throwing money at everything,” he said.

In Cheltenham, a young family from Keysborough was the sole bidder for a contemporary house and bought it for $2.34 million at auction.

The five-bedroom home at 39 Stuart Avenue was listed with a price guide of $2.25 million to $2.35 million.

The family made a genuine bid of $2.25 million, the bottom of the price range, before a vendor bid was placed at $2,275,000, and the auction paused.

Rather than pass the property in, selling agent Kevin Chokshi, from Ray White The Bayside Group, spoke with the bidder on the auction floor.

When the auction resumed, the family offered the reserve price of $2.34 million, and the property sold under the hammer.

The sellers built the home nine years ago and were downsizing, Chokshi said.

“There has been some really strong results for family homes that are finished and ready to move in because construction costs are so high,” he said.

“To replicate that would cost you $2.6 million to $2.7 million … [It’s] definitely quite an attractive point for people who are trading up.”

He said the family home market was stronger than the nervous first home buyer market. “Turnkey product in a nice spot, they are really flying.”

In Brighton, vendors who spent $50,000 to transform a tired four-bedroom brick house were rewarded with a $1,855,000 sale.

The fresh look of 43 Elm Grove attracted a young couple from Prahran who had been searching for some time, said Jellis Craig Brighton auctioneer and agent Michael Hingston. “They were really relieved, and that’s a pretty natural part of the process, with the adrenaline and everything else that they tend to experience,” he said.

The property, which has a wraparound courtyard but no off-street parking, was on the market for almost three months with another agency, and initially asked for between $1.85 million and $1.95 million. The price was later reduced to $1,815,000.

Hingston managed this second campaign, recommending a “makeover” that included painting, gardening, new carpets and curtains, and professional styling, and revised the guide to $1.7 million to $1.8 million. The reserve was $1.8 million.

The auction drew five bidders. The couple beat four empty nesters, who liked the 311-square-metre block’s low maintenance.

The bidders needed a nudge to start. Hingston’s opening $1.7 million vendor bid was answered by a $1.75 million genuine bid, and the contest rapidly reached the reserve.

LJ Hooker head of research Mathew Tiller said there was a feeling across Melbourne that it was a good time to look for a property.

“Vendors and those that are taking their properties to auction are seeing where the market is at and are meeting the market more,” he said.

“But also just a little bit more turnout and inquiry on open homes and auctions.”

The market could change if the Reserve Bank increased the cash rate before the end of the year, he said.