By Tate Papworth
Nobody told St Albans buyers that property prices are falling.
A dated 1950s property at 20 Collins Street sold for $1.28 million recently – $311,00 above reserve.
Ray White real estate agent Lam Nguyen said the result took even him by surprise.
“We had a number of bidders turn out for auction and even had people fly over from Vietnam to bid, so we were hopeful of getting around the $1 million mark,” Mr Nguyen said.
“But it did surprise us that it went above reserve as much as it did.”
The three-bedroom house on about 622-square-metres had belonged to the same owner since it was built – with Mr Nguyen saying the rarity of sales in the street may have played a role in the sale price.
“You can feel the heat of the cooling market, but there’s still more good purchases to be had in St Albans,” he said. “People tend to hold on to properties in Collins Street, so this proved to be a rare opportunity.”
Mr Nguyen said the buyer had local connections and had yet to determine what to do with the property.
Mr Nguyen said the fact the property sat within the Residential Growth Zone
and was within walking distance of everything
St Albans offered made it incredibly
desirable.
While the market may be cooling, St Albans isn’t unfamiliar with high sale prices. A four-bedroom house on 590-square-metres at 73 Alfrieda Street recently smashed its reserve by $620,000 to fetch a suburb record price of $2.52 million.
Mr Nguyen said the suburb was the strongest in the area he covered.
“St Albans is our biggest suburb,” he said. “It’s a desirable location and offers a lot of opportunities for prospective buyers.”
