Pocket-sized Newtown home will pack punch for buyer

The two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St, Newtown, sold for $621,000.

A pocket-sized Newtown property could prove to be the ultimate bargain buy in Geelong’s most blue-ribbon suburb.

The $621,000 sale for the modest two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St might seem a trifle cheap, considering it close to half of Newtown’s $1.15m median price.

But Gartland Geelong agent Will Ainsworth said he did the sums that show the sale represented incredible land value.

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Mr Ainsworth said the ex-rental home is definitely a starting point for the first-home buyers.

It presents two bedrooms, a tidy kitchen complete with a dishwasher, and a small but updated bathroom with a shower over the bath that’s accessed through the laundry.

A narrow driveway is at the side of the house, leading to a small backyard on the 202sq m block.

The aluminium clad house is close to Kardinia Park, and walking distance to the Pakington St shopping and cafe precinct.

The two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St, Newtown, sold for $621,000.

The two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St, Newtown, sold for $621,000.

Mr Ainsworth said the initial quoted range had to be lowered to $500,000 to $550,000 to suit the market for first-time buyers, who ultimately came to the party.

“It was hard to find comparable sales at the start to work out what it might be worth,” he said.

“We started where we thought it was and then we brought it back a little bit because the interested buyers weren’t there in the price point.”

Mr Ainsworth said the auction opened at $450,000.

The two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St, Newtown, sold for $621,000.

The two-bedroom house at 16 Bond St, Newtown, sold for $621,000.

“I did some sums very quickly. We worked out to be around $3000/sqm and then I looked at the house next door, which they’re rebuilding and about to put the slab down. They bought that around 15 months ago for $800,000, that was about $1900/sq m.

“You can look at the size of it, or the work required. But at the end of the day the local that you’re buying in is premium. It’s in one of the best pockets of Geelong.”

Mr Ainsworth said the buyer intended to renovate.

It was the cheapest home to sell in Bond St in five years.

“In time, people look will back and say that was a very smart acquisition.”

The block of land is essentially a townhouse site, whereas the neighbours are building a bespoke home on the larger site, he said.

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