A Robin Boyd house with no heritage protection has been saved from developers, selling for $1.5 million to lovers of Boyd architecture after passing in at auction.
The Blott House at 7 Allambi Road in Chirnside Park, on 1965 square metres, had interest from families, empty nesters - and even developers despite its significance.
The iconic home was one of about 1300 properties to go to auction on Saturday. By Saturday evening, Domain Group had collected 1082 results and put the clearance rate at 79.5 per cent.
"There's no doubt the market continues to meet all its challenges," said Domain Group chief economist Andrew Wilson. "Melbourne produced yet another strong clearance rate, despite a surge in listings and higher interest rates announced this week."
Jellis Craig auctioneer Richard Earle highlighted how forward-thinking the design was when it was built in 1956 but the crowd remained silent, forcing three vendor bids between $1.2 million and $1.35 million.
Interested buyers kept their hands in their pockets when Mr Earle returned from a trip inside, and the property shortly passed in.
Two couples made multiple bids on the three-bedroom home after the auction, and it sold for $1.5 million to a couple from the outer east.
Mr Earle said the buyer loved the Ellis Stones' inspired garden and appreciated Boyd architecture. They planned to maintain the property and not develop it.
"Designed in 1956 - you actually wouldn't change a whole lot of features in the design today," Mr Earle said.
"It's north-facing, open-plan living, plenty of light all the way through, crisp clean finishes, natural materials - it's 2015-2017 architecture. It's way ahead of his time."
In Hampton, The Footy Show's Sam Newman was spotted bidding on a four-bedroom family home at 11 Retreat Road.
Stephen Wigley, of Hodges Sandringham, believed Newman was bidding on behalf of a family member and had been in the market for a while.
Newman kicked off the auction with a $2 million opening bid, but one of three other buyers in the crowd snatched the keys. The property sold for $2,245,000 - $345,000 over reserve.
There was also competitive bidding at a mortgagee auction in Camberwell.
Nine would-be buyers fought fiercely for two partially-built townhouses at 23 Acheron Avenue, and pushed the sale price more than $750,000 over reserve.
The 975-square-metre block with existing plans and potential to redevelop sold for $3,451,000. The buyers will also have to pay GST because of the nature of the sale.
Auctioneer Bernard Corser, of Corser Property, declared it on the market at $2.7 million, and several developers who kept their cards close to their chest came out of the woodwork.
Developers attempted to trump their competition with knock-out bids of $75,000 and $50,000 while others tried to hang on with as little as $500.
Jellis Craig's Mark Pezzin, who sold the property in conjunction with Corser Property, attributed the strong result to a lack of quality stock.
"This sort of offering doesn't come up often," he said. "We didn't really know if it was going to be attractive or not attractive when we started, based on the fact that it's a difficult proposition sometimes to continue someone else's build."
In Prahran, a young couple expecting their first child received a welcome gift for the new family at auction.
Their three-bedroom Victorian made almost $900,000 in four years, with the pair only adding cosmetic touches such as a new paint job in that time, Kay and Burton's Darren Lewenberg said.
A competitive auction, which started with a $1.5 million bid from the crowd, played out in front of about 100 onlookers.
The 197-square-metre block sold to downsizers from Bentleigh for $2.16 million. The young family paid $1.29 million in March 2013.
