Updated October 31, 2026 — 4:39pm,first published 1:50pm
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A three-bedroom bluestone Victorian in the heart of Fitzroy sold for $950,000 after passing in at auction on Saturday, as a small number of homes went to auction over a quiet Cup weekend.
The house at 4 Henry Street, originally built by a stonemason around 1860, maintains its bluestone facade and elements of the original building throughout, while featuring an updated interior with two large skylights, a new bathroom and kitchen, and an internal courtyard that makes the most of a neighbouring car wash’s soaring walls.
The property was advertised with a reserve of $950,000, which Nelson Alexander Fitzroy agent and auctioneer Rick Daniel thought offered “exceptional value” for central Fitzroy.
Daniel opened the auction looking for a genuine bid of $920,000. When it didn’t come, he made a vendor bid of the same amount, and after some time paused proceedings to consult the vendors.
After returning, he failed to attract any genuine bids and the house passed in.
Auctioneer Rick Daniel paces Henry Street on a rainy Derby Day, as 4 Henry Street passes in without a single genuine bid.Wes Mountain
Daniel said he “would be very surprised if it’s not sold within the next 24 hours” after the auction, and by early afternoon it had sold to a young first-home-buyer couple for $950,000.
They had inspected the home early in the campaign and, assuming it would go above their budget, turned up late to the auction. They were stunned to see it pass in, and pounced soon after.
The Canberra-based vendors purchased the home for $780,000 in 2009, with their daughter living in it while she attended university. They’d hoped to retire there themselves, but circumstances had changed.
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The property was one of 418 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week.
In South Yarra, an updated three-bedroom Victorian in South Yarra sold for $1.75 million in post-auction negotiations – $50,000 below reserve.
Minutes from Hawksburn train station and a short walk to both Toorak and Williams roads, the preserved Victorian weatherboard at 3 Hopetoun Grove features a striking red door. Inside, floating floorboards lead past two front bedrooms built around period chimneys into a sitting room and a rear open-plan kitchen and living area, with full-length windows looking onto a small yard and terrace.
With a primary bedroom and ensuite upstairs above the living area, the property was listed with a reserve of $1.8 million.
Marshall White Stonnington agent and auctioneer Fiona Counsel said the auction opened with a $1.7 million vendor bid, followed by a single $1.71 million genuine bid from a local couple with a young family, on which it was passed in.
Counsel said the vendors, upsizing to a new property, agreed to “meet the market”, with the buyers happy to meet them halfway and sell for $1.75 million, as the potential for another rate hike on Tuesday loomed over the weekend.
“I think from the vendor’s perspective … they factored that in when it came to the negotiation,” she said.
The well-preserved Victorian facade hides an expansive updated interior.Marshall White Stonnington
She said she didn’t think the Cup Day long weekend had been a factor in interest on the day.
“We were comfortable to go on race week,” she said. “Everyone was here that was expected to be here.”
Further south, a three-bedroom freestanding villa in Hughesdale, with 433-square-metres of land on the title, sold for $950,000 at auction, soaring $100,000 over its $850,000 listed reserve.
Split between living and dining areas to the front, and its three large bedrooms to the rear, 2/142 Poath Road was one of two units on the block, with mostly original interiors and a large yard ready to be updated by a new owner.
Ray White Oakleigh agent and auctioneer Jonathon Eaves said a $720,000 genuine bid opened the auction, from which three bidders pushed the price up in $20,000 increments to $800,000.
From there, bids slowed to $10,000 and eventually $5000 increments after being declared on the market at $850,000. It eventually reached $950,000 – $100,000 over its reserve and more than $200,000 above the opening bid.
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The successful buyers were a young couple, purchasing their first home in the area, while the vendors sold to transition to the next stage of their lives.
Eaves thought the sale was an indication that some parts of the market were still selling well, but said the threat of another rate hike did factor into reluctance from at least one buyer to put his hand up at auction.
“But you’ve just got to look at it and say, ‘can I afford it? Is it a good home?’” he said.
“And can I see that potentially, in 10 years, this property will be worth more?”
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