A decaying 122-year-old Victorian billed as San Francisco’s ‘worst house on the best block’ has sold for almost $2million – a eye-catching price which the real estate agent says was the result of overbidding at an auction.

A developer’s $1.97 million cash offer for the 2,158 square foot (200 square meter) property in the Noe Valley neighborhood was finalized last week. On the Zillow Gone Wild social media page, some commenters marveled at the price while others questioned the value of a home with shuttered windows, peeling paint and a shaky foundation.

One commenter joked: ‘It actually has a parking space. No wonder it sold for almost 2 million!

The property sold for several hundred thousand dollars more than other comparable repairers in the area following a complex conservatorship sale, said Todd Wiley, who represented the seller.

Wiley said a judge approved the sale of the home after its elderly owner was placed in conservatorship. The man’s family, concerned about the way he was living, hired a licensed trustee to handle the sale, with the proceeds going to pay for his ongoing care, according to Wiley.

The home initially received the highest offer of around $1.4 million, and a probate judge ratified the offer, triggering a roughly seven-week process in which the home remained on the real estate market, generating intense interest.

At auction, a probate judge set the bid at $10,000.

“It kept things down and kept five to six bidders in the game,” Wiley said. Two people eventually went neck and neck, he said, “and it was that auction environment that got him to where he was.”

“They really wanted it, but the data point didn’t support that selloff. It was an anomaly,” he said.