A St Albans house in the suburb’s bustling shopping district that was tipped to sell at auction for more than $1.5 million passed in at the weekend.
The property up for sale at 79 Alfrieda Street is across the road from a house that set a new price record for the suburb when it sold for $1.81 million in February. A month later another property three doors up at 86 Alfrieda Street sold before auction for $1.65 million.
St Albans’ hot property market set the tone in the lead-up to Saturday’s auction, but come auction day only about 40 people arrived to witness the 606-square-metre property go under the hammer.
Bidding started at $900,000 and crept up slowly in increments of $20,000 and then $10,000, before the property was passed in at $1.525 million within about half an hour. It last sold in 1988 for $80,000.
Ray White St Albans agent Lam Nguyen said he was expecting a stronger turn out on Saturday. “I think it was because of the pricing, it restricted a lot of people,” he said. The property was marketed with a sale price of between $1.5 million to $1.65 million.
Two of the bidders were local, one being a neighbour, while the third was a property investor.
Given the property was comparable in size to record-breaking 80 Alfrieda Street, expectations for another eye-watering sale price on Saturday were high, said Mr Nguyen.
“This is the better property out of the three [Alfrieda Street properties], it’s brick veneer, I’d say it’s a lot more liveable, it’s not just a knockdown house, it’s something you can keep for a while,” he said. “In theory it should be worth more.
“But you never know at auction, you might get more or you might get less, it’s unpredictable.”
Mr Nguyen said while 80 Alfreida Street was similar in size and distance from St Albans’ main shopping strip, its $1.81 million price tag was an anomaly, not a comparable sale.
A number of interstate investors had flown to Melbourne to vie for nearby 21 McIvor Road, which was to be auctioned off on the same day as 80 Alfrieda Street, until the McIvor Road property was compulsorily acquired by Brimbank council at the 11th hour.
This led to a blockbuster auction with about 150 spectators when 80 Alfreida Street was auctioned off on February 13 and finally sold to a Sydney investor, smashing St Albans’ previous price record of $1.1 million.
“I couldn’t use it as a comparable sale… there were factors that caused that price,” Mr Nguyen said. “I think the owners got very lucky on that occasion.”
He said Ray White St Albans would open up negotiations with interested parties for 79 Alfrieda Street this week.
Two other St Albans houses failed to sell on Saturday. The properties at 74 View Street and 42 Walmer Avenue passed in at $650,000 and $740,000 respectively.
St Albans’ median house price in the year to March 30 had climbed to $600,000, up a staggering 25.8 per cent.
