Bomber Dyson Heppell sells in Moonee Ponds after weekend auction

The current Essendon captain, Dyson Heppell and a former club captain Matthew Lloyd both secured post auction sales for their Melbourne investment properties on the weekend.

Dyson Heppell’s three-bedroom Moonee Ponds terrace (above) fetched $1.44 million after being passed in at $1.35 million to its only bidder.

The 1880s Chaucer St offering had cost $1,065,000 in 2013.

It then became a $700 a week rental property.

Matthew Lloyd’s three-bedroom 1890s Albert Park cottage (below) sold for $1.85 million after it passed in on a vendor bid of $1.8 million at its Greg Hocking Holdsworth auction.

Renovated in 2007, it last sold at $1,477,500 in 2010. It became a $1000 a week rental property for the then recently retired champion.

"I thought what better place to invest than Albert Park," he told the Herald Sun.

“I was looking there and found a renovated property where I didn’t have to do any work and could rent it out.”

Heppell secured just over nine percent annual price growth during his three plus years while Lloyd achieved three percent annual growth during his six years.

No renovation work had been done by Heppell, while Lloyd recently put in a new bathroom, redid the floors and had given the whole house a repaint.

A five bedroom house with Sydney Harbour Bridge views at McMahons Point sold post-auction for $9.38 million, the highest priced result at weekend auctions across Australia.

Located at 3A Warung Street, (below) the tri-level property is set in a prized waterfront enclave.

The property was offered through McGrath who suggested it was Sydney's lower north shore highest auction result so far this year.

After nine contracts were issued, just two interested parties competed for the home which was passed in at $9.1 million.

It sold post auction to a couple reportedly downsizing from Hurstville, according to Domain. 

Another highlight in Sydney saw the waterfront 1870s Balmain home (below) of anthropology academic, Professor Richard Wright fetch $6.1 million, well above its $5.5 million reserve, when offered for the first time in more than five decades.

A four bedroom 1920s Toorak home sold for $5.5 million was the highest priced result in Melbourne at the weekend auctions.

Located at 684 Orrong Road, below) the property set on 877 sqm of land had last traded almost 50 years ago.

It was marketed with a price guide of $4 million plus through Marshall White agents Richard Mackinnon and Fraser Cahill.

The solid brick residence was marketed as available for immediate residency, renovation or development as apartments or townhouses.

It features leadlight windows, beamed ceilings and timber floors beginning from its reception hall.

Auction results continue their strong run into March, with the east coast auction engine rooms, Sydney and Melbourne recording an 80% clearance rate, according to CoreLogic’s latest report.

SQM Research Louis Christopher said the weekend results showed that buyer demand was holding up even as more sellers come back into the market.

The property data firm says that the preliminary clearance rate across the combined capital cities fell slightly, from 78.4 per cent to 77.8 per cent, based on preliminary results.

The number of auctions held across the capitals was lower, with 2,714 held, compared to 3,301 over the previous weekend which was a record high for February.

"In comparison, over the corresponding weekend last year, both the combined capital city clearance rate and the number of auctions were lower, with 2,304 auctions held and 68.6 per cent reported as successful," Kevin Brogan, CoreLogic's auction commentator said. 

Sydney saw the clearance rate remain above 80 per cent for the fourth week in a row, and Melbourne for the second week in a row, while across the remaining cities; week-on-week results show a fall in clearance rates with the exception of Perth where results improved, and Tasmania, which remained unchanged over the week.

Melbourne was host to 1,399 auctions and preliminary results show a clearance rate of 80.4 per cent, down slightly from last week’s final clearance rate of 81 per cent across 1,635 auctions.

At the same time last year, Melbourne’s clearance rate was 72.1 per cent, with 1,236 auctions held across the city.

Melbourne’s Inner region was the busiest for auctions with 295 homes going under the hammer, followed by Inner South (260) and Inner East (179).

The North East region was the best performer in terms of Melbourne clearance rates, with an 87.6 per cent success rate across 133 auctions.

The REIV president Joseph Walton said he summer auction market, from December to February, has delivered the highest number of auction sales on record with close to 5,600 homes sold under the hammer.

Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate increased to 80.5 per cent from 80 per cent last week.

Auction volumes were lower this week with 886 homes taken to auction, compared to 1,210 last week.

The same weekend last year had a clearance rate of 68.7 per cent was recorded across 708 auctions.

The performance across Sydney’s regions was varied - across the South West region with a clearance rate was 66 per cent to the City and Inner South (88 per cent) and also the Northern Beaches (88 per cent).

Across Brisbane, the clearance rate was 59 per cent, down from 62 per cent but higher than one year ago (50 per cent).

Auction volumes were also down with 148 auctions, compared to 176 last weekend and a lower 133 last year.

Hendra had the top price when $3.5 million was paid for a five bedroom home (below) rich in original features.

It was marketed by Ray White Real Estate as a modern Queenslander.

A total of 120 auctions were held in Adelaide, down from 122 last weekend, although higher than last year (99).

Preliminary results show 69 per cent sold, down from the prior 71 per cent when the city recorded the highest clearance rate for the year to date.

The preliminary clearance rate for Perth was 36 per cent, compared to 30 per cent last weekend and 21 per cent last year.

Canberra’s clearance rate fell to 70 per cent, after being recorded at 76 per cent last weekend.

There were 116 auctions held across Canberra, up from 103. 

An auction in Forde set a $1.4 million suburb record by $130,000, according to Domain.

It was a five bedroom offering (above) on an 800 sqm block at 3 Arndt Street.

One year ago, 67 percent of Canberra’s 88 auctions cleared.