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Tennis court vendors find property racket tough going

This Bronte home sold before auction for $5.375 million.

This Bronte home sold before auction for $5.375 million. Photo: Phillips Pantzer Donnelley

There was no game, set and match when a Brighton tennis court failed to find a buyer at weekend auction, after attracting just the one bid of $3.75 million.

The 58 Were Street vendors had $3.8 million to $4.1 million pre-auction price hopes, and will now take $3.95 million.

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An aerial shot of the Were Street lot. Photo: Marshall White

Their neighbouring house at 60 Were Street, which had $3.5 million to $3.8 million hopes, was also passed in with one bid at $3.55 million.

The home with tennis court has only had two owners since its 1919 construction, with the current vendors buying it in 1982 for $285,000, the Herald Sun reported.

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The home at 60 Were Street was also passed in. Photo: Marshall White

The tennis court is an 892-square-metre block, while the five-bedroom house with garden covered by a heritage overlay is on 1070 square metres.

It’s a periodic occurrence, as earlier this month a Hunters Hill, Sydney, tennis court offering fetched $3.55 million, some $250,000 above reserve.

The 900-square-metre grass tennis court holding was once part of the 1893 house next door.

In 2017 a tennis court at 16 Stradbroke Avenue, Toorak fetched $7.805 million at an auction that resembled a five-set tennis match.

Melbourne’s top weekend sale was at Albert Park, where 7 O’Grady Street sold through Cayzer Real Estate for $3.14 million after it had been totally transformed behind its classic Victorian facade.

Set on 272 square metres with a double garage, the four-bedroom, two- bathroom home last traded at $492,500 in 2000.

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The home had been modernised behind its Victorian facade. Photo: Cayzer Real Estate

There had been a $2.75 million to $3 million price guidance.

Melbourne had the cheapest weekend result across the capital cities when a Malvern East studio apartment sold for $103,000.

The price guidance had been $130,000 to $143,000 for the student accommodation at 203/60 Waverley Road, set close to Monash University’s Caulfield Campus.

It was last advertised as a $275-a-week rental.

CoreLogic reported the highest residential sale under the hammer in Sydney was 7 Wallis Avenue, Strathfield for $4.25 million through George Ellis and Co. It is a four-bedroom home amid Peter Fudge-designed gardens on its 1214-square-metre block.

This Strathfield property sold for $4.25 million. Photo: George Ellis & Co

There was a pre-auction $5.375 million sale at 436 Bronte Road, Bronte, continuing the Sydney trend where more offerings sold pre-auction than under the hammer for the third consecutive week.

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The Bronte home was another sold before auction in what is becoming a trend in the softer market. Photo: Phillips Pantzer Donnelley

But The Sunday Telegraph reported the vendors of a unit in Cremorne Point were rewarded for sticking with their auction when it sold for $2.11 million, some $110,000 higher than a pre-auction offer for the three-bedroom 14/14 Kareela Road offering.

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The owners held out for a higher price at auction – and got it. Photo: Belle Property

It last sold for $1.411 million in 2014.

There were 2155 homes taken to auction across the capital cities this week, with preliminary results showing a 56.8 per cent success rate.

“It is likely that we will see revision down to the low 50s as final results are collected,” CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said.

Through March the largest auction markets have seen the clearance rate holding around the mid-to-low 50 per cent range which is lower than the same time last  year, but a substantial improvement relative to late 2018, he noted.

“The number of auctions is likely to rise further in the lead up to Easter; if we see the clearance rate continuing to hold, it will be a strong sign that the fit between buyer and seller pricing expectations is becoming more balanced,” he added.

In Melbourne, a preliminary auction clearance rate of 53.4 per cent was recorded across 991 auctions this week, down slightly from 55.1 per cent across 814 auctions over the previous week.

Last week’s clearance rate was the highest Melbourne had seen since September.

Sydney was host to 789 auctions this week, with preliminary results showing a 65.9 per cent success rate, compared with 52.1 per cent across 506 auctions last week. This time last year, the clearance rate was a stronger 67.9 per cent across 394 auctions.

Across the smaller auction markets, Brisbane was the only city to see an increase in the number of homes taken to auction this week, while all other cities saw lower volumes week on week.

In Brisbane a waterfront apartment at East Brisbane sold at auction for $1.91 million. There were three registered bidders for the Riyala complex offering, a three-bedroom, plus study and two-bathroom apartment at 241 Wellington Road, East Brisbane.

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The East Brisbane apartment had three registered bidders. Photo: Ray White

Bidding opened at $1.7 million through agent Phil Waight of Ray White Paddington.

Jonathan Chancellor is editor at large at Property Observer

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