The former Altona North police station at 72 Cooper Ave, Altona North, has been sold for $4.05m in a shock auction result.
The Victorian government’s plans to fight underquoting and address property market fairness have been questioned after one of their own properties sold $1m above the advertised price.
The former Altona North police station was listed for sale a day after fresh government plans to combat underquoting were announced in November last year.
Decommissioned as a cop shop during the pandemic, the 72 Cooper Ave property raised eyebrows after it locked in a $4.05m auction sale last week.
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Once attended by colourful Melbourne identity Mick Gatto, the surplus property had been advertised at $2.65m-$2.75m — with a reserve set within that range.
At a whopping $1.255m above the top figure, the shock result is a win for tax payers, but shows the difficult nature of grappling with properties selling above expectations — as with the reserve set low, the property was not underquoted.
Property experts have now warned it shows how Allan government plans to tackle housing market fairness by targeting reserve prices will not fix the issue.
Records show Victoria’s Treasury initially listed the former police station for sale on November 21 last year, the day after Consumer Affairs minister Nick Staikos announced new plans to tackle underquoting and property market fairness.
While they had sought to auction it on December 18, it only went under the hammer last Thursday.
The property is set on a hefty 2650sq m, according to CoreLogic records.
Sweeney Altona auctioneer Shawqi Ein confirmed the property had been called on the market within its advertised range, at about $2.7m, and it had not been underquoted.
However, he noted that while there were three developers, two investors and another group considering repurposing the property as a community-centre in the mix, even he had been surprised at the eventual price — set following 53 minutes of bidding.
“There were six, absolutely aggressive bidders,” Mr Ein said.
“I couldn’t believe the result.
“But we want to keep getting more money for our government. And why not? We are good citizens.”
While most bids were made in the $10,000-$15,000 range, the auctioneer said there were some knockout rises as high as $100,000 — and buyers had appreciated suggestions that the site was a “safe and secure investment” or could be used as a “lock up apartment project”.
Mr Ein added that he had been credited with a two-hour auction in 2024 believed to be among Melbourne’s longest for a single property, and always made sure he got every cent out of bidders for auctions.
The ex-police station has mostly been cleaned out, but still has recognisable spaces like the kitchen.
Property Investment Professionals of Australia chair Cate Bakos said the property was likely “low-balled” as the government would have “just wanted it gone”.
“But the size of it, it’s massive, more than half an acre — and it’s great land,” Ms Bakos said.
“The government has set a reserve that’s nowhere near where it was going to sell.”
The buyer’s advocate who has been outspoken on underquoting issues did not suggest the property was underquoted.
However, she said it showed addressing market fairness by solely focusing on the reserve price did not fully address the issue.
“Underpricing and underquoting are two different things. They should have been saying it’s a low-reserve auction.”
The property is expected to be demolished and replaced with new construction.
Ray White Victoria chief auctioneer Luke Banitsiotis said the sale was a “great example of how the governments proposed declaration of reserve prices isn’t going to solve the underquoting problem”.
“The market is a wild beast, with results extremely unpredictable on a weekly basis,” Mr Banitsiotis said.
“If the governments reserve was declared, the outcome still would have been almost 50 per cent above that reserve price.”
The Altona North police station at 72 Cooper Ave was opened in 1979 and during its time hosted the likes of colourful identity Mick Gatto.
A new Altona North police station opened in 2020.
It is understood the buyer plans to demolish the former police station and develop the site.
In November last year, the Victorian government announced broad plans to tackle underquoting across the state’s property markets with revisions to legislation suggesting all properties would be required to advertise a reserve price seven days before the auction.
It is expected to be amended before being taken forward as a bill for the parliament.
At the time, Consumer Affairs minister Nick Staikos said they were looking to “close loopholes” and would not rule out further changes.
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