Vendor outpaces the market in Hawthorn, but McMahons Point sale held up with finance

A Hawthorn property in auction tipping competition Property Tycoon has sold for well above its pre-auction expectations.

There’s a website, www.propertytycoon.com.au, where punters can guess what they think properties will sell for at their weekend auctions in Melbourne and Sydney. This season Property Observer readers have their own competition, which you can access here. The winner of the overall competition will win $1,000.

While a small crowd of around 50 people watched the auction at 1/69 Morang Road, Hawthorn (pictured below), it was left to three bidders to compete for the property. When the hammer fell and the property sold for $592,500 the vendor became one of the rare investors who has outpaced the market in recent years.

The property was purchased during the height of the 2007 market. Since then the economy has been a minefield for investors, but 1/69 Morag Road, Hawthorn, has delivered a 7.31% compounding return over the last five years. The median value of apartments has been growing by only 4.09% over the same time frame.

You can watch the auction highlights on our Facebook page.

In Sydney it became clear as the campaign went on there was only one buyer who had an interest in purchasing 16 Chuter Street, McMahons Point (pictured below). In this situation the agents preferred option is to enter into negotiations with the buyer and avoid an auction that turns into a fizzer.

An auction sale is usually an unconditional transaction, meaning once a contract is signed there is no way out. In this case, however, not only was there only one buyer, but this person was not in a position to buy unconditionally. In most cases it means the deal is subject to the purchaser obtaining finance.

A deal has been struck for 16 Chuter Street, but it will remain under contract until the sale is unconditional.