South Melbourne terrace sale prices: A guide for The Block 2012 contestants and June 30 auction bidders

Watched by millions of DIY renovation fans, contestants on The Block 2012 worked hard to renovate their South Melbourne terraces in the hopes of securing the prize winning highest price at auction, scheduled for June 30.

Contestants may have high hopes of sale prices around the $1.2 million mark but could struggle to achieve this given recent sales history.

This year there have been 12 sales of South Melbourne terraces with only four disclosing their prices, resulting in an average price of just over $1 million.

It wasnt helped this week with South Melbourne one of six suburbs to drop off the $1 million median house price perch over the past 12 months following soft trading conditions , according to first quarter 2012 figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

The suburb had a median selling price for the first three months of the year of $967,000, according to the REIV.

RP Data put South Melbourne's median house price at a lower $925,000, down 11% over the year. But it is up 47% over the past five years. RPData suggests that the median price for houses priced over $750,000 sits at $1.068 million.

On the positive side, alternate figures compiled by Australian Property Monitors (APM) for the six months to March 2012 revealed South Melbourne to be the top-performing Melbourne suburb, with median house prices up 22.5% to $1 million, ahead of Mont Albert (up 22.4% to $1.2 million) and Fitzroy (up 22%t to $955,000).

According to Robert Larocca, spokesman for the REIV, the sale at auction of a two-bedroom terrace at 304 Moray Street at the end of March most closely resembles the type of properties that feature on The Block.

The Moray Street terrace (below) sold at auction for $1.06 million through David Wood of Hocking Stuart Albert Park.

According to the REIV, since January 1 2011 there have been 27 sales of South Melbourne terraces, of which nine vendors have disclosed the selling price.

Based on disclosed sales, two-bedroom sales have averaged $1.13 million, three-bedroom terraces have averaged $1.3 million and one four-bedroom terrace sold for $1.8 million in April last year.

In the two years prior (2009 and 2010) REIV counts 40 sales of South Melbourne terraces, with all but three vendors willing to disclose the selling price.

Based on disclosed prices from 2009 to end of May 2012:

Two-bedroom terrace prices have ranged from $810,000 to $1.3 million.

Three-bedroom terrace prices have ranged from $710,000 to $2.17 million

Four-bedroom terrace prices have ranged from $850,000 to $2.25 million

The most recent sale was this two-bedroom terrace at 308 Albert Street (below), which sold at auction on May 26 for $1.05 million through Greg Hocking having had a $900,000-plus asking price.

Also over the same weekend, this two-bedroom corner terrace (below) sold in a private sale for an undisclosed priced through Marshall White. It had a price guide of $695,000.

The top sale for 2012 has been the $1.3 million paid for a two-bedroom terrace at 162 Nelson Road. This 1960s terrace (below) sold at auction through Cayzer Real Estate’s Michael Szulc and Simon Carruthers and was aimed (given its ungainly appearance) at the renovation market:

But The Block contestants are unlikely to get anywhere near the top sale of the past three years, which was this four-bedroom terrace on two street frontages of land at 21 Ferrars Place (below), which sold under the hammer for $2.25 million through Hocking Stuart in December 2009.

The cheapest recent sale has been this modern three-bedroom terrace on Napier Street (below), which sold for $925,000 at auction in December last year through David Wood from Hocking Stuart Albert Park.

This most expensive property sold over since January 2011 is this grand, renovated four-bedroom terrace at 36 Ferrars Place (below), which sold at auction in February for $1.8 million through Cayzer Real Estate.

The listing describes it as an “architect-renovated dress-circle gem … a wonderful blend of period features and contemporary finishes embrace you upon entering this warm home with style”.