Over recent weeks we have observed that the residential property market has softened. Whilst many properties are passed in, the really good ones seem to fly and continue to sell beyond the reserve price.

On the weekend 18 Alexandra Avenue Canterbury was auctioned. It ticked all the boxes – good land size (around 8500 sq. feet), excellent location (within one Canterbury’s premier streets) and a beautifully restored single storey Victorian home, which had been recently renovated amongst delightfully maintained gardens. The agent’s advertising headlined with “The Most Liveable House in Canterbury” and cited the renovation as ‘superb’. In the hands of one of Boroondara’s most experienced auctioneers, Alistair Craig, the house was passed in on a vendor bid of $1.95 million, without a single bid from a small crowd.

Why did this fail?

I believe that while the renovation no doubt suited the vendor’s brief requirements, it was not to most people’s taste. Some very basic fundamentals were overlooked, such as-

* no direct ensuite to the main bedroom;
* kitchen was small, and isolated from the main house;
* bedrooms 2,3 & 4 were quite small;
* rear extension while of good quality, had low ceilings and did not capture well natural light (particularly to dining area);
* family room was an awkward shape, and this did not help with logical placement of contemporary house furniture;

The house did have the wow factor but lacked a bit of common sense, and failed at auction as a result. In this market, any house with a bit of question mark will fail, and this property was testament to this.

A good result

More often than not a sensible renovated period style home within a friendly street can do well at auction, irrespective of shaky market conditions. In contrast to the previous article, 20 Rix Street Glen Iris sold before a crowd of 150 to 200 people, under the hammer for $1.22 million, $70K above the reserve price. The house was far from perfect – located to the end of an intersection (quite bad in feng shui terms) with a south facing rear yard of limited size, it had its problems which would be very difficult to remedy.

The house itself was good and had a great feel and flow. Presenting well to the street, it had a single garage set back from the façade and charming raised entry porch. Formal living and dining areas were provided, and all three bedrooms were of a good size with generous storage. The extension to the rear maintained the original ceiling heights of the house and the open plan arrangement of kitchen, meals and living worked well, connecting logically to the rear outdoor living areas. Utility areas were renovated sensibly, accommodating clean lines and neutral tonings. Overall a good result for good home which no doubt caught the imagination of many young families.