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Barry Plant director calls online auctions from his lounge room with outstanding results

Corporate - Home Page
10 June 2021
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Melbourne’s northwest auctions virtually unaffected by circuit-breaker lockdown

Tech-savvy home-sellers in Melbourne’s northwest pivoted to online auctions during the latest lockdown and reaped outstanding results.

Of the seven properties scheduled to go under the hammer on May 29, five transitioned to online, according to Barry Plant Taylors Lakes director James Hatzimoisis, who called the auctions from his lounge room.

“With guidance and a fair degree of flexibility, sellers made the right choices, and we enjoyed another week of a 100 per cent auction clearance rate,” he said.

Buyers were also undeterred by the ban on onsite auctions and battled furiously for homes online.

“The uncertainty produced by the latest lockdown had no impact on the confidence of homebuyers in our area,” Mr Hatzimoisis said.

“All online auctions attracted multiple bidders and all the properties sold over reserve.”

Buyers and sellers readily accepted the technology and were comfortable taking part in the online auction option.

Mr Hatzimoisis used the Gavl Live bidding platform, where buyers downloaded the app, registered their profiles and made their bids remotely when the auctions were livestreamed.

“Sellers also used the app to watch the bidding, while they connected with us separately via Zoom,” he said.

Among the properties that sold online was a chic three-bedroom house at 9 Sunrise Drive, Hillside, which attracted four first-home buyers and changed hands for $695,000, which was above the sellers expectations.

“The auction was fast-paced and the property sold well because of the competitive bidding,” Mr Hatzimoisis said.

On the same day, four buyers wanting to upgrade battled for the four-bedroom house at 4 Kinetic Avenue, Hillside, that sold for $852,000.

“This property sold well above the reserve because it was well-presented and located in a sought-after pocket in The Parks estate,” Mr Hatzimoisis said.

Also as a result of the lockdown, the auction at 10 Dundee Street, St Albans, was brought forward to May 27, and the property sold for $590,000, at the top end of its price range.

“The seller was all set for the auction and the three first-home buyers were ready to bid, so we brought the auction forward with a great result,” Mr Hatzimoisis said.

Driven by pent-up demand and a low supply of listings, a 100 per cent clearance rate was achieved by Barry Plant Taylors Lakes throughout May, and Mr Hatzimoisis expected similar results in the coming months.

“While finance is still relatively cheap, demand should remain strong, and with the shortage of stock, prices will continue to rise,” he said.

A number of properties in Brimbank suburbs have sold for “astounding” prices, including the five-bedroom house at 3 Castlewellan Boulevard, Hillside, which was snapped up for $1.866 million.

The showpiece on about 2000sq m generated enormous interest from the moment it hit the market and attracted eight bidders at a twilight auction.

“It sold for an astounding price that set a new record for the Hillside 2000 Estate,” Mr Hatsimoisis said.

Corporate - Home Page
10 June 2021
Save Article

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