A young couple beat the developer to buy a Highett home for $1.61 million

Mr Allouche said buyers were becoming more selective, causing higher-priced properties to stay on the market longer than usual.

“Sales have been sitting on the market longer than expected, which means … there’s an overlap of older and newer stock, so that’s creating a bit of an oversupply situation,” he said.

“It will greatly hurt overpriced sellers because for properties that are priced correctly, those that are underpriced or overpriced will only help them sell.”

In Carlton North, a three-bedroom terrace house was also sold at auction for a first-home buyer couple with a reserve price of $1.85 million.

First-home buyer from Melbourne’s north wins 1015 Drummond Street They made the highest bid of $1.71 million and paid an additional $140,000 after the auction to buy the property.

The other party offered a starting bid of $1.7 million but did not object to the couple’s $10,000 increase.

Nelson Alexander real estate agent Isabelle McEwan Marion said the couple had been looking for a house in Carlton North for nine months but had been unable to find one.

“Their dream was to live in Carlton North, so I think they’re really happy that they’ve finally got this suburb that they thought they might not get,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Highgate, a young couple moving to Melbourne from the suburbs beat two developers to buy a three-bedroom home at auction on Saturday for $1.61 million.

Ray White auctioneer Kevin Chokshi said bidding had started slowly. 39 Donald Streetwhose reserves are $1.5 million.

The buyer hired a representative to bid, and the opening bid was $1.5 million, which matched the property’s reserve price.

A slow but competitive auction ensued, with two parties offering bids of $25,000 and $10,000 respectively.

The auction began to heat up when a third party joined the bidding at $1.57 million, and the price then quickly rose, eventually selling for $110,000 above the reserve.

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Mr Choksi said the buyers, a young couple from regional Victoria, planned to live in the house before demolishing it and building their dream family home.

He said the buyers also considered homes in neighboring Brighton and Hampton but ultimately chose the Highland because of its development potential.

“They still believe that Highgate is significantly undervalued and that there is still a lot of room for growth in the area,” he said.

Further south in Frankston North, a daughter downsizing on behalf of her mother beat three other parties at auction to buy a three-bedroom home for $590,000.

OBrien Real Estate auctioneer Mark Burke opened the seller’s bid at $500,000, while two parties (both first-time homebuyers) offered $10,000 and $5,000 respectively 39 Aleppo Crescent.

The buyer eventually joined the bidding, and a fourth unexpected bidder made an offer until the end, pushing the sale price to $577,500, exceeding the listed guide of $525,000.

The winning bidder ultimately paid $590,000 for the renovated property, buying it on behalf of her mother, a Frankston local who was looking to downsize.

While a downsizer bought the property, Mr Burke said first-home buyers currently made up about 70 per cent of the Frankston market.