Four investors fight for $2.25m Malvern East home, pushing it $600,000 above reserve

An investor with development hopes beat a man who had only seen the three-bedroom property near Chadstone earlier that day. PropertyNewsAuctionsFour investors fight for $2.25m Malvern East home, pushing it $600,000 above reserveBy Shona Hendley February 16, 2026 — 11.30amSaveLog in, register or subscribe to save articles for later.Save articles for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.Got itNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeProperty listingsAdvertisementAn investor bought a Malvern East deceased estate that had been in the family for decades at auction on Saturday for $2.25 million, which was $600,000 above its reserve.The three-bedroom house at 18 Chadstone Road was listed with a price guide of $1.55 million to $1.65 million and a reserve of $1.65 million.Lead agent and auctioneer Tom Grieve from Ray White Bentleigh said the auction went “very well” with strong bidding between four investors.Bidding opened at $1.5 million, and once the property was called on the market at $1.65 million, Grieve said there was a “flurry of bidding.”“It went from $1.7 million to $1.95 million in about thirty seconds,” he said.LoadingThe corner position and proximity to Chadstone were the two major drawcards.“You can see the social courtyard of Chadstone through the back fence,” Grieve said.The female investor who initiated proceedings secured the property and plans to develop it for family members.Advertisement“Because it was Valentine’s Day, we gave her a bunch of flowers and chocolates for making the first bid, and then because she also bought the home, she got a bottle of champagne,” said Grieve.The underbidder was a man who had only seen the property earlier that day.The property was one of 828 scheduled auctions in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 68.4 per cent from 601 reported results, while 72 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.In South Yarra, a two-bedroom apartment, never seen by the new owner, was sold under the hammer for $730,000.The unit at 3/19 Kensington Road had a guide price of $600,000 to $640,000 and a reserve of $640,000.LoadingSelling agent Luke Saville from Savvi said they had more than 150 groups inspect the property during the campaign. Interest was also high on auction day, with a crowd of over 70 people, nine registered bidders and five active bidders.“There was a mix of first-home buyers bidding and Sydney investors,” he said.“The purchaser was a dad bidding on behalf of his daughter, a first home buyer who was on holiday overseas and who hasn’t seen the property.”Bidding opened at $640,000 and rose to $700,000 in less than a minute.“It was a super quick, competitive auction,” Saville said.The first-floor apartment with a north-facing balcony has a “good layout, with a lock-up garage, also a bonus you don’t normally get,” Saville said.In South Yarra, Saville said that the apartment market is “on another level.”“I’m not quite sure what it is about South Yarra, but it is attracting a lot more interest than other suburbs like Hawthorn, especially from interstate investors.”LoadingPRD’s chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, said the clearance rate is “really good.”“This means that the Melbourne market is holding stable and strong when it comes to auction clearance rates, despite the recent cash rate hike,” she said.“It shows that people are still thinking Melbourne has a lot of opportunities, and it being on the recovery road is still attracting quite a lot of buyers.”Mardiasmo said there were promising signs for the market.“At this rate, demand should still be going strong for the next few weeks, unless there are further changes to the economy or cash rate.”Meanwhile, in Yarraville, a fully-renovated Victorian was passed in at auction for $1.94 million and sold later that day for $2 million after private negotiations on site.The four-bedroom home at 20 Ovens Street was listed with a price range of $1.8 million to $1.95 million, and a reserve of $2 million.There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.LoadingSelling agent Matthew John from Buxton Inner West said the quality of the renovations undertaken by the vendors - an architect, and a builder - as well as its position in the heart of Yarraville Village, attracted the two bidders.“The home was stripped back to its bones and completely renovated by the sellers,” he said.“There is always demand for these sorts of homes, despite whatever else is going on in the market.”The underbidder was a young couple who lost to an upsizing family.“The family live locally in a townhouse but has two teenagers and wanted more space,” said John.A crowd of younger families and couples watched the auction, something John has noticed happening more frequently over the past few weeks.“I think people are trying to get a read on the market, especially after the rate announcement,” he said.SaveLog in, register or subscribe to save articles for lat