Wet weather on Saturday contributed to low crowd numbers at city auctions as the real estate market returns to "normal" pre-COVID levels.
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Two Warrnambool agents said the smaller crowds at central auctions consisted of "serious parties", rather than onlookers and interest levels were also property dependent.
Ray White Warrnambool director Fergus Torpy said there was steady interest in a three-bedroom Californian bungalow at 118 Banyan Street, close to the city centre, which sold for $516,000.
The home had an expected price range of $500,000 to $550,000 and the auction opened with a vendor bid of $470,000.
Mr Torpy said bidding was between two local parties. They made $10,000 bids to get to $490,000 and $5000 bids to reach $500,000, when it was announced the property was on the market, with the home selling for $516,000.
He said the purchaser had plans to renovate and live in the property.
"It's a good spot with great potential but you have to spend some money to do some work to it and obviously that costs a bit of money to do," Mr Torpy said. "The person who bought it has some plans to spruce it up a bit."
Meanwhile, a four-bedroom home at 37 Adriana Crescent, Dennington was snapped up for $550,000. It sold at the top end of its $500,000 to $550,000 price range.
Mr Torpy said a crowd of 25 to 30 people watched on as the auction opened with vendor bid of $490,000.
He said bidding went in $20,000 increments to $530,000 and a $10,000 bid to reach $530,000.
"They negotiated while the auction was going on and ended up paying $550,000 under the hammer to I believe a first-home buyer from Warrnambool," he said.
Mr Torpy said they were both "pretty solid results in pretty ordinary weather" and interest in the properties was from local residents.
"It's not the crazy, bullish market we were seeing 12 or 18 months ago," Mr Torpy said. "It's predominantly the internal interest and probably more genuine interest than people coming to look and spectate. It's also property dependent."
A home at 102 Foster Street in Warrnambool, near Walter Oval, was passed in at $450,000 with negotiations continuing with the sole bidder.
Harris & Wood Real Estate auctioneer Danny Harris said they thought the property's $550,000 to $575,000 price guide represented good value and while surprised "more didn't take advantage of it", the bidder they're in negotiations with "would be the beneficiary".
"We had an opening bid at $450,00 and we passed it in at that," Mr Harris said. "We're hopeful we'll see a sold sticker on that one in the coming days."
Mr Harris said the city was returning to a "normal" pre-COVID market and the auction's 12 attendees were potential buyers.
"The weather didn't affect the serious parties we were working with," Mr Harris said. "They were all there. It just affected the spectators."
He said they continued to see buyer interest in Warrnambool properties.
"I think the speculation things will soften or fall further has been around since the beginning of the year or since interest rates started to increase," he said.
"But in practice, if there's been a softening, it's not a lot. The numbers at open houses are still really healthy. It's what I would see in a normal market."
Out of town towards Condah, a historic church at 3 Lake Condah Road, Breakaway Creek sold for $145,000.
A crowd of 60 people watched on as the former church, circa 1894 and surrounded by farmland, sold to a Geelong buyer.
Charles Stewart Western District agent Leeson White said there was always a lot of enquiry for churches and it "captured people's imagination from Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton and Melbourne"
"It was a blank canvas in some respects," Mr White said. "It's close to Budj Bim so there's an opportunity to capture that tourism market and it has a lot of historical value as well.
"We were quoting $165,000 to $180,000 but in the end the vendor wanted to move it on," Mr White said. "We sold it to some very enthusiastic purchasers from Geelong way with a connection back to the Spring Creek area."
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