First home buyers missed out on a Mount Waverley unit that sold to locals at auction on Saturday for $770,000, some $100,000 above the reserve.

The two-bedroom unit at 4/289 Waverley Road was at the rear of a small block, and featured a grassy courtyard and manicured gardens.

Ray White Mount Waverley’s Nicholas Richards listed the home with a quoted price range of $600,000 to $660,000. The home last sold for $636,000 in 2018, records show.

“It’s been slightly updated in the past so not a full renovation,” he said. “There are six units on the block and this one was located at the rear.

“It’s on a main road, [so] it was predominantly first home buyers looking at the property,” he said.

Bidding began at the bottom of the range as the two buyers contested the auction. Richards said the reserve was $650,000.

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“That’s where [another unit in the block] had sold, so that’s where it was on the market, but sometimes it’s just decided on the day.”

Richards said first home buyers were the underbidders, but the home sold to locals who planned to live in the home.