The home at 68 Livingston Road sits on a large block and has several separate living areas throughout. Jellis Craig selling agent Tom Kurtschenko listed it for sale with a quoted price range of $1.55 million to $1.65 million.
“It’s a beautiful character home and is on 1300 square metres, which is a larger size land holding for here as well,” he said. “It was renovated inside and had some nice views out back.”
The auction began with a bid at the bottom of the range. Kurtschenko said two bidders competed, both families, and the reserve was set at $1.6 million.
Public records show the home last traded hands in 2022 for $1,555,000; Kurtschenko said he was happy the vendors were able to sell for a nominal profit.
“It was interesting when you look at the history of the home,” he said. “It did sell for [$1,555,000] a couple of years ago. There’s been a few over the last few years where people have been selling for less than their purchase price. People were paying too much.”
In Frankston North, an investor beat first home buyers to buy a three-bedroom brick house.
The home at 245 Frankston-Dandenong Road was listed for sale by OBrien selling agent Mark Burke. He gave the home a quoted price range of $638,000 to $701,800.
The house was a rental, and was sold with lapsed plans to build a second home at the rear of the property.
The auction began with a bid of $650,000 and Burke said four bidders competed. He said the vendor was happy to sell the home for about $680,000; the investor paid $700,000 to win the title.
Burke said the buyer was considering renewing the second-home plans. “Because they had just expired, you can go back to the council and get it initiated for about $600,” he said. “I think the bloke is going to build it so he can rent out two homes instead of one.”
Home buyers were being choosy, Burke said, but might find themselves facing more competition come October, when the federal government’s expanded first home guarantee scheme came into effect.
“The market is good, but people do handpick things a bit,” he said. “They look at location and facilities and things like that, but the market’s hot, and when it hits October with that 5 per cent scheme from the government, it’s going to pop like popcorn.”