TERRITORY agents recorded several strong sales amid a raft of passed-in properties for the first weekend of the festive month.
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About half of the 53 homes up for auction on Saturday were sold and some remained in negotiation in the evening.
There were a few sales over a million dollars including a double-brick renovated home on Amaroo Street in Reid that sold for $1,100,000.
A three-bedroom renovated cottage in Turner Place, Yarralumla, sold for $1,079,000.
A four-bedroom brick veneer home overlooking a reserve area in Kaleen attracted strong interest in the lead-up to the auction.
About 40 residents gathered in the front yard of the property at 4Pasmore Close to watch four parties bid for the home.
Luton Properties Woden auctioneer Richard Keeley accepted an opening bid of $500,000 before action back and forth between two bidders raised the price to $615,000. Two more bidders competed for the property before the hammer fell for $665,000.
The home sold to opening bidders Peter and Marie Grealy who decided to buy in Kaleen to be a little closer to the city than their home in Flynn.
He said the couple – and their daughter Ann – thought the home had been well maintained and they liked the established garden and outlook over the grasslands.
Vendors David and Kylie Tattersall put their home on the market after returning to their country roots and buying land at Bywong.
The couple purchased the Kaleen home for $440,000 about 8 years ago.
Ms Tattersall said it had been hard to decide to sell the house. ‘‘I’m terribly sad to leave, it’s taken something pretty special to take us away,’’ she said.
According to Mr Keeley, Kaleen was a highly sought-after suburb and six bidders had registered for the auction.
He said strong land sales during the week in the new Belconnen suburb of Lawson were also good news for the market.
‘‘It seems to point to a bit of confidence,’’ he said.
Luton Properties principal Richard Luton said people may have expected a slowdown for Christmas but a rush of buyers wanted homes in the new year.