Brisbane auction buyers still keen amid COVID-19 fears

As social-distancing measures ramp up in response to COVID-19, public auctions present an interesting challenge for real estate agents. Despite this, a bumper 94 auctions went ahead across Brisbane at the weekend, with a clearance rate of 39 per cent. 

“Buyers were cautious walking in,” said Nick Penklis, director of Space Property Paddington, of his auction of the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 20 Atthow Avenue, Ashgrove. 

“[People] kept their distance. But, having it in the backyard certainly helped a lot, because it can provide private space.” 

About 30 people gathered for 15 minutes to watch the auction, with five registered bidders attempting to walk away with the keys. Bidding opened at $700,000, and quickly jumped to $750,000. 

Things slowed somewhat after this as bids of $5000 and $10,000 edged the price higher. Eventually, the hammer was dropped, and the house was sold for $885,000. 

Despite the need for social distancing and hand sanitiser, buyers were still keen, Mr Penklis said. 

“The buyers were there to buy, not to view,” he said. “It wasn’t like ‘Oh, we’ll just see what happens’. That was a strong sign for our market. The only thing we can’t do is shake hands. But, there were smiles all around, within distance.”

The vendors have owned the house since 1997, and have used it as a family home and an investment property. Meanwhile, the buyers are looking to get a foothold in the area. 

Auctions in Sydney and Melbourne are under a cloud from next weekend with premiers in those states flagging shutdowns of non-essential activities. No such plans for Queensland have yet been flagged, though it remains to be seen whether coronavirus may bite into Brisbane’s much smaller auction scene.

“We’re not expecting to see an impact on the values of homes but we will see the number of sales fall as people wait and see what is going to happen,” said Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly.  “Estate agents are pretty good at adapting in these circumstances.” 

Elsewhere, Kosma Comino, of LJ Hooker Sunnybank Hills, sold the five-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 10 Mansfield Place, Mansfield, in Brisbane’s south-east before auction. He said COVID-19 was having an impact on people’s willingness to sell in the short term, but several sellers were still keen to get things moving in the coming months. 

“I’ve got a lot [of auction campaigns] launching after Easter, but I think a lot of the sellers are up in the air with what’s going on with the coronavirus,” he said. “At the moment, what we’re seeing is a lot of increase in buyer inquiry, I think there’s a lot of panic buying at the moment.” 

On the other side of the city in Brisbane’s inner north, the four-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a spacious 810-square-metre block at 295 Days Road, Grange, sold under the hammer. 

Just one party attended the auction, making one registered bidder and an audience of two people. Despite this, the house sold over reserve. 

The single registered bidder was a developer, who opened with a strong offer and, after about 20 minutes of private negotiation, the hammer was dropped and the house was sold. 

The vendors were two sisters who inherited the house after a death in the family. It was particularly process for them because the house had been in the family since the 1980s. 

Selling agent Georgie Haug, of Belle Property Samford, said the successful result was thanks to an incredibly smooth process, as well as the vendor’s willingness to trust her advice. 

“I sold the seller’s property in Ferny Grove a couple of years ago for a record,” she said. “So, just the trust and the communication. I took [this] job in a heartbeat because they had so much trust in me to do the right job and get the result. It was just a really beautiful process.”

Closer to the city, the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 16 Skinner Street, West End, sold in an incredibly fast auction. About 20 people gathered to watch as two registered bidders battled it out for under five minutes. 

Bidding opened at $700,000 and moved quickly to $800,000. Bids continued in increments of $20,000 then $10,000 until the house was sold for $970,000. 

Selling agent Keryn Osgerby, of Sold Property Group, said 33 groups inspected the property over the five-week campaign, with the vast majority of interest coming from families.

“It was overwhelmingly young families who wanted to be in the area of lifestyle reasons,” she said. “Second to that would be the schooling benefit, but most of it was all about the West End vibes and lifestyle.” 

The buyers fit this bill exactly and will be moving in with their young family very soon. Meanwhile, the vendors live overseas and were using the property as an investment. They sold because of a change in circumstances.