A Northcote house rocketed almost $800,000 over reserve at auction after a flurry of bidding pushed the price to almost $3 million.
The California bungalow in Northcote's coveted Westgarth pocket last sold for $587,500 in 2001, Domain Group data shows.
Five keen buyers were in the running, but a Fitzroy family looking to upsize eventually inked the contract for 17 Cunningham Street, on about 615 square metres of land.
McGrath Northcote auctioneer Luke Brizzi took an opening bid of $2 million, and it did not take much motivation for $20,000 rises to come thick and fast.
The three-bedroom house, with potential for a fourth bedroom, was announced on the market at $2.32 million and sold for $2.97 million.
Mr Brizzi said the main drawcard for the house was its location: near Merri Creek Trail and proximity to not only one, but three train stations.
The renovation of the house, combined with a landscaped north-facing garden, was also a selling point.
"It's a really big result, but there's been $3.5 million sales in the street," he said. "When you think about it in context, with what you're surrounded by, it's not unusual."
A few doors down, a striking five-bedroom Victorian house at number 29 sold for $3.54 million last May.
Meanwhile in Toorak, a suburb well used to million-dollar transactions, the Walter Burnley Griffen's renowned "Salter House" passed in on a single vendor bid of $2.9 million.
According to the listing, the three-bedroom house at 16A Glyndebourne Avenue is one of only a handful of Walter Burnley Griffen-designed residences in Australia.
Listing agent Clive Nettlefold, of Kay and Burton, said the result was "disappointing", and the reserve was undisclosed.
He said it was a property with significant heritage so it ruled out some types of buyers, such as those looking at potential to develop. "Others love the fact that it does have that protection," he added.
Griffen's design of the Salter House in 1922 was described as forward-thinking, with a series of interlinking open-plan living and dining rooms beneath vaulted ceilings.
The property, on about 642 square metres, is close to several well-regarded schools such as St Catherine's, St Kevin's and Scotch College.
