A two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in the inner south has sold for $1.31 million in Canberra's Saturday auctions.
It was one of just 85 scheduled auctions across the capital for the week, with numbers dwindling as winter, and the election, approaches.
Three buyers registered to bid on the original 1950s home at 78 Stradbroke Street, Deakin.
The property is a duplex with one shared wall but has a separate title and is located on a 583-square-metre block.
Among its charming features are timber floors and sash windows, plus French timber doors that lead to the family and dining area. With no heritage listing status, the home has the potential to be renovated or extended.
CoreLogic records show the property last changed hands in 2010 for $615,000.
Selling agent Mario Sanfrancesco of Blackshaw Manuka said majority of the 40 interested buyers were looking to keep the original home.
"Those who were looking to build a new house were looking for a slightly larger block. But most of the buyers that were attracted to this one were looking to do some sort of minor renovations and live in it," he said.
He said the new owners, Canberra locals, intend to occupy the home. The seller decided to part with the property due to an interstate move.
The median house price in Deakin has skyrocketed in the last 12 months, from $1.39 million to the current median of $2,025,000.
Mr Sanfrancesco said it's as if the suburb has been "renewed and rediscovered".
"The local Deakin shops has come in leaps and bounds, you know, there's restaurants, there's dentists, doctors, hairdressers, a supermarket - everything you need at a local community centre is right there. So I think that's a big drawcard," he said.
"It's also geographically really well positioned to Manuka, to schools nearby and you're at foothill of Red Hill Reserve."
Of the 85 auctions slated for the week, 75 per cent sold under the hammer, according to CoreLogic's preliminary results.
Canberra's auction volumes were down compared to 142 homes last week and 97 homes this time last year.
Real Estate Institute of the ACT CEO Michelle Tynan said general seasonal trends, as well as the upcoming election, are behind the fall in auction numbers.
"We have lower numbers of properties coming to market, which is not unusual for Canberra, it seems to be historically so that we tend to slow down a little bit this time of year with the change of seasons," she said.
"And the election does play into people's decisions as to what they're going to do until that's over."
The preliminary clearance rate across the capitals this week, 64.7 per cent, was the lowest result so far this year. Canberra's auction clearance rate was one of the highest among the capital cities, second only to Adelaide with 81.2 per cent.
Ms Tynan said she expects property stock levels to increase following the election.
"We're just seeing a slowing in price growth which may cause people just to think a little bit longer before they list," she said.
"Seeing the strong clearance rates that Canberra has, I think that gives confidence to people who are, as I said, just waiting out the next two weeks and then we should see our normal winter trade."
