Bumper crowds attend five auctions across Warrnambool and Allansford

A crowd of 80-100 people attended the sale of the three-bedroom house at 32 Hickford Parade, Warrnambool in what Ray White agent Fergus Torpy described as the "biggest crowd" he'd seen in recent months.

Bidding for the property opened at $710,000 but a back-and-forth battle between three prospective buyers saw the home sell under the hammer to a local family for $840,000.

It was also a local, young family who came out on top for the three-bedroom house at 59 Skene Street, where bids opened at $570,000 and closed at $600,000.

IN OTHER NEWS

But the property at 9 Baeckea Close required a vendor bid of $540,000 before a local, first home buyer bought it for $10,000 more.

Harris and Wood agent Matthew Wood said the three-bedroom home at 9 Shirley Grove also required assistance in the form of after-auction negotiations which saw the property sell for $760,000 to an ex-Warrnambool local and first home buyer re-locating from Melbourne.

Meanwhile in Allansford, a near-five-hectare property at 185 Ziegeler Parade attracted five active bidders and eventually sold for $857,000.

Mr Torpy said today's auctions reinforced a growing trend.

"There are still strong signs in the Warrnambool marketplace," he said.

"There's more local interest now than what we've historically seen, but there are still less properties to choose from as well. There aren't as many houses on the market prior to COVID, so it's still competitive in that regard.

"Warrnambool's a big enough city that it's self-sufficient, there's an internal marketplace full of people up-sizing, down-sizing and breaking into the market and then you've got 25 per cent where people are relocating to the region usually for work or retirement.

"That mixture's always going to be there, it's just during COVID we saw a lot of people being pushed out of the city so that created a greater influx than what we'd traditionally see.

"I think we're back to the traditional rhythm of what we'd normally see where you do get a bit of a blend between the two but most of it is internally driven."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: