Panicked buyers who recently sold their homes and “have nowhere to live” are scouring the market, while vendors are being advised to consider private offers.

A knockout bid from a buyer that sold earlier this year was enough to secure the keys at 68 Bourke St, Bulleen after bidding from four other groups.

Barry Plant Doncaster East director Mark Di Giulio was about to end the auction when a final bid added $20,000 to see the sale price jump to $1.8 million at the four-bedroom property.

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“The person that won it had just one bid,” Mr Di Giulio said. “It was a desperation buyer that had sold their house this year and needed to settle before lockdown occurred.”

Mr Di Giulio said his phone had “gone into meltdown” with buyers in a similar situation.

“I’ve got people that I sold houses for in January, February and March, and they’re calling me in desperation — not panic, desperation — because they’re trying now to find a home or they’ll have nowhere to live,” he said.

“They’re saying, ‘no need to negotiate, what’s the price?’ People need the basic essentials.”

Mr Di Giulio said the expectation that stock levels would fall over the next few months had sparked buyer panic.

“If there are any sellers in the market, I think they’ve got a window of opportunity — they can really cash out at a fair and positive market price if they’re happy to be flexible,” he said.

“The flip side to that is, anyone that is thinking of selling, they need to be ready — we’re going to have millions of people at home. There’s only so much backyard cricket, so much Netflix we can watch — at some point, mums and dads are going to have the real estate conversation.”

Vendors had been advised to move auctions forward or consider private offers, Mr Di Giulio said.

He added a low Australian dollar, government stimulus packages, cheap cash rates and the anticipated stock shortage would work in the real estate market’s favour.

“I’m predicting a boom market once we’re out of lockdown and the virus has passed,” he said.

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jack.boronovskis@news.com.au

@jackboronovskis