Balmoral house sells for $1.9 million as Brisbane auctions slow

After several weeks of strong results, Brisbane’s auction market has slowed. Some 95 properties went to auction across the city at the weekend, with a reported clearance rate of 33 per cent. 

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 45 Olive Grove, Balmoral, in Brisbane’s south, sold at auction for $1.9 million. About 60 people watched for 20 minutes as four registered bidders made a move for the property. 

Bidding opened at $1.5 million, and jumped in lots of $100,000 and $50,000. The house was on the market at $1.85 million, and sold for the final price after one more bid. 

Selling agent Brandon Wortley, of Ray White New Farm, said nearly 60 people viewed the house over the campaign. The eventual buyer was a family with young children who live locally and were looking to upsize.

The vendors, meanwhile, were based in Sydney and had built the house as a rental property two years ago. Mr Wortley said both parties were happy with the result. 

“They’re the best auctions, when you’ve got happy people on both sides,” he said. “Having clarity around the process was the big thing there because the buyers were nervous about the process.

“Between myself and Conrad, my co-agent, we spent so much time making sure they understood exactly what it was, and explaining that good houses attract interest.”

Elsewhere, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 534 square metres at 18 Campion Avenue, Bardon, sold in a lively auction. About 30 people gathered to watch three registered bidders battle it out to walk away with the keys. 

Bidding opened at $800,000, and, after 35 minutes of active bidding, the hammer was dropped and the property was sold for $945,000. 

Selling agent Carmen Briggs, of Harcourts Solutions, said most of the interest in the house was from young families. 

“They were all looking to get into the Rainworth schools, and they were all looking to be able to have their children walk to high school,” she said. “It’s got a separate area downstairs that could be a work from home office, or a granny flat, or a teenage retreat. It’s one of those properties that has multiple purposes.” 

Mrs Briggs ran a three-week campaign for the house, rather than the typical four weeks, because she has been having great success with the shorter cycle. 

“I’ve been doing a lot of three weeks [campaigns],” she said. “If you run the campaign longer than three weeks I find the buyers lose momentum. All my three week [campaigns] so far that I’ve been doing in the spring selling season have sold under the hammer.”

The buyers were a young family who had been driving for an hour each morning to get their children to the local schools. They had their extended family with them at the auction, and were thrilled with the result. 

In Brisbane’s south, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 594 square metres at 124 Brisbane Corso, Fairfield was sold under the hammer for $1.49 million in a well-attended auction. 

More than 80 people watched as a massive 13 registered bidders attempted to stake their claim on the property. Bidding opened at $1 million, and, after 25 minutes and more than 90 bids, the house was sold. 

Selling agent Geoff Sellars, of Ray White Annerley, said the house attracted massive attention over the four-week campaign, mostly from older couples and mature families. He put this interest down to both its quality and the circumstances of the sale.

“It was a lovely home, but we attracted that many bidders because it was a mortgagee in possession,” he said. “The bank actually gave us permission to advertise it as that, which is why the result was so strong.”

The buyers are from Sydney, and will be living in the house part-time. They were very happy with the result.