2.4% yield: Buyers go bonkers for this shabby shop

A rundown corner shop in Melbourne’s inner-north has fetched a whopping $1.8 million after sending buyers into a buzz this month.

Agents fielded more than 150 enquiries about the double-storey property at 785 High St in Thornbury, before it was snapped up at auction.

The 226sqm site includes a ground floor office, topped with a two-bedroom apartment.

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Despite the building’s shabby shell, investors and owner occupiers came from far and wide to secure the corner shop, which offered a 2.4% yield after going under the hammer.

The Thornbury property also has an apartment upstairs.

Fitzroys agents Terence Yeh, Chris Kombi and Ervin Niyaz says the result shows the strong appetite for retail as well as residential property in the trendy area.

“The ongoing gentrification of this corridor has driven the development of multiple medium and high-density dwellings, creating excellent rental growth potential for the property as the immediate residential catchment grows, generating further demand along the retail strips,”  Yeh says.

The ground floor has currently been fitted out as an office.

“These developments have further accentuated the extended trading cycles of these centres and added to their vibrancy.”

The sale comes after a nearby boutique shop and dwelling at 740 High St sold at auction recently for $1.385 million at a 3% yield.