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Key points

• Two, two-bedroom Victorian terrace houses in Albert Park sold within a fortnight in February.
• One sold for $1,295,000 and the other for $1.22 million.
• The $75,000 price difference was due to one of the terraces’ more modern renovation.

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It’s not often neighbouring houses sell around the same time, but in Albert Park, two, two-bedroom Victorian terraces sold within a fortnight with a $75,000 price difference.

A turn-key renovated terrace at 9 Herbert Place sold via private treaty for $1,295,000 on February 7, while next door, 7 Herbert Place, sold under the hammer for $1.22 million on February 18.

The properties look almost the same from the outside, but inside a modern renovation meant 9 Herbert Place sold for more, Marshall White Port Phillip selling agents Kaine Lanyon and Ben Manolitsas agreed.

“Number nine was done up and there wasn’t much value you could add to it,” Lanyon said. “While number seven was neat but, in comparison, it wasn’t in as good order as the one next door.”

Even though it sold for a higher price, 9 Herbert Place did take a little longer to sell, Lanyon said.

It had been offered at auction in November last year but was passed in, selling on the private market a few months later to an owner-occupier.

Meanwhile, 7 Herbert Place, which had been a rental, was also sold to an owner-occupier who is planning to renovate it.

Lanyon said the homes were both considered entry-level homes for Albert Park, and anything in good condition at that price range, usually garnered a lot of interest from buyers – especially if there was little or no work to do to make it liveable.

“It’s like the old saying, the cream rises to the top, so quality real estate, good houses and well-regarded streets that don’t require renovation will sell well,” he said.

“But if they’re compromised, being on a busy main road, have no parking, have an awkward floor plan or need work, most buyers will say ‘no, I’m not going near that one’.”

Manolitsas said number seven had a competitive auction and a strong outcome, but its most recent renovation was about 20 years ago.

“One was more updated than the other,” Manolitsas said. “It [number nine] had more modern renovation so number seven needed some re-zhuzhing to get it to that level.”

Two neighbouring sales within a short time frame are unusual, but not unheard of.

In March last year, brother and sister Tim and Fran Wilson sold 698 and 700 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North, under the hammer on the same day.

Tim and Fran Wilson after the auction of their side-by-side homes.Credit: Penny Stephens

The two had lived within shouting distance of each other for 14 years.

Fran, who is an interior designer, sold her two-bedroom home at 698 Brunswick Street to a young couple for $1,531,000, while Tim, an architect, sold 700 Brunswick Street to a young professional for $1,632,500.

The properties were part of a refurbished Victorian shopfront, and had been redesigned by the siblings.

The $101,500 difference in price, Jellis Craig Fitzroy director and auctioneer Nigel Harry said, was due to 700 Brunswick Street being slightly larger than 698 Brunswick Street, plus it had a northerly aspect and the potential for a car space.

In 2019, two neighbouring townhouses in Brunswick were advertised with a $119,000 difference in price but sold with just a $19,000 gap.

A renovated, two-bedroom townhouse at 47 Blair Street sold privately for $876,000 on July 9 that year, after being listed with an $839,000 asking price.

Its direct neighbour 47A Blair Street, also a two-bedroom townhouse, went to auction, selling for $857,000 on July 20, after being advertised with a $720,000 to $790,000 guide.

The only difference between the two properties was that number 47 had a $60,000 renovation; while 47A was in its original condition, having been constructed in 2005.

At the time, buyers’ advocate Cate Bakos was surprised with the results, as she thought the renovated property would have fetched more than $19,000 above its neighbour.

She said competition from multiple bidders had boosted the result for 47A Blair Street, and there was little for sale at the time.

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