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"It's akin to Mayfair or Park Lane in London!"
That's what auctioneer Paul Castran told prospective buyers moments before a period home in South Yarra went under the hammer on Saturday.
And monopoly fans (and property experts alike) will know that means it's worth big bucks.
The two-bedroom brick home went on to sell for $1.8 million - $320,000 over the reserve price.
It was one of 1160 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on the first Super Saturday of the spring auction market.
Saturday was expected to set a new record for the number of auction listings scheduled for the weekend before the AFL grand final. It's one of the busiest auction days of the year because vendors seek to avoid a clash with the match.
By evening, Domain Group had recorded a 76 per cent clearance rate from 844 reported auctions.
The humble house at 21 Leopold Street was once home to Western Bulldogs star full-forward Simon Beasley and his wife, Merrie.
Rumour has it Beasley used to joke that he lived in "South Yarraville", a nod to his team's homeland in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
In the 1980s the house sold to Barbara and Richard Beck for $125,000. Mr Beck was an acclaimed English artist who designed the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games poster and won awards for his design of the Coonawarra Claret wine bottle label.
After his death, Mrs Beck remained in the house until she passed away earlier this year.
Family members attended the auction, and were said to be thrilled with the result.
It was a frenzied few minutes as bidding quickly escalated from an opening bid of $1.3 million.
Several hopeful bidders struggled to get a word in as three parties aggressively outbid each other in $50,000 and $25,000 jumps.
The successful bidder, a doctor who was accompanied by his family, was determined from the outset. Asked what his plans were for the property, he said they were yet to decide.
Mr Castran, of Castran and Gilbert, said there was an acute shortage of Victorian houses on the market in the area.
"The city of Melbourne's South Yarra is a finite resource," he said. "The market is strong and thirsty for this type of real estate."
Meanwhile in Balwyn, a 618-square-metre corner block with an old, unrenovated house also went under the hammer.
More than 100 people watched the bidding on 8 Power Street quickly rise from $1.8 million to its final selling price of $2,325,000.
Listing agent Bronwyn Lucas from Noel Jones said the property was a "plum ripe for the picking".
"The vendor has been there for 32 years and so many people have been watching it for many years, just waiting for today," she said.
There were four bidders competing but it was a developer who eventually came out on top.
Ms Lucas said the area was very tightly held, partly because it was in the Balwyn High School zone.
