Brisbane auction market bounces back as agents report confidence spike

After a few quiet weeks, the Brisbane auction market picked up this weekend as 99 properties went to auction with a reported clearance rate of 43 per cent.

A stately heritage house in the heart of Paddington was sold under the hammer in a dynamic auction that lasted about 20 minutes. Six registered bidders battled it out for the beautifully restored three-bedroom, two-bathroom house set on 461 square metres.

Bidding opened at $880,000 and quickly jumped up. By the end of the auction, two bidders tussled it out in $1000 increments until the property was finally sold for $1,155,000

Agent Chris White, of RE/MAX Riverside, said the property had been incredibly popular, with more than 80 people inspecting it over the five-week campaign.

“This is one of the most successful auctions we’ve done,” he said. “The property was a beautifully restored Paddington cottage. It was also in a very popular area. And the whole house was beautifully styled.”

But White said the success of the auction came down to the way he and his team sold the house and its history.

“The marketing campaign was wonderfully executed. It was almost a case study of marketing and selling successfully at auction,” he said. “[The vendors] were the third owners since 1886. So, the new owners will be the fourth owner since 1886. As part of our marketing campaign we researched the property and its history.

“We knew who the first owner was, when the land was first bought, which boat they came out on, all the way through. We had the whole story of the house since it was first built. And that’s what people related to.”

The vendors themselves owned the property for 25 years and completely restored it in that time.

“One is a historian and one is a builder, they had owned it for 25 years – they lived next door,” White said. “It was a real labour of love, they had beautifully finished this property, it was perfect in every sense.”

On the other side of Brisbane, an East Brisbane heritage house was sold for $902,000. The three-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 31 Gresham Street is set on 673 square metres, and was built in the 1920s.

Eight registered bidders faced off for about 25 minutes in front of an crowd of 20. Bidding opened at $700,000 then continued in $10,000 and $20,000 increments until it finally reached the sale price of $902,000.

The house is in its original condition, complete with leadlights, bay windows, and horsehair plaster ceilings. Agent Paul Gould, of Pure Rentals, said it was in unusually good condition given its age.

“It was in original condition, but usually when it’s in original condition it’s in very poor condition. That wasn’t the case,” he said.

The property was built by the parents of the vendor, who was selling due to a change in personal circumstance. The buyers were a family already living in the area who had decided to move to be closer to local schools. They were thrilled with the result.

White said the result showed that East Brisbane continued to be a great place for buyers to find quality property, despite not being the most popular inner-city suburb.

“It’s always popular, but for whatever reason East Brisbane has never reached the heights that it should,” he said. “That’s historical with that suburb for some reason.”

Elsewhere, a recently built four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 464 square metres in Rochedale, in Brisbane’s south-east, sold for $951,000.

Two registered bidders fought in front of a crowd of 25 people for about 20 minutes to secure the gorgeous property.

The opening bid was $800,000, which then went up in $50,000 increments. The process stalled slightly at the end, and after some negotiations the property was sold.

Agent Dianne Deem, of Ray White Eight Mile Plains, said the owners kept the property in immaculate condition because it was originally intended to be their forever home.

“It was actually their dream home when they built it, and then circumstances changed,” they said. “They were going to stay there forever, but he’s a keen golfer and wanted to move down to Windaroo down where the newer golf course is. And where his family was.”

The buyers were a young couple expecting their first child. They saw the property in the first week of its four week campaign, and were excited to secure it.

Deem said the result was proof the market was already improving since the election last weekend.

“We’re so excited because our market has just bounced straight back since our election,” she said. “We’ve noticed that the positivity of buyers, and we’ve had double the numbers at open houses just this week since.

“Everyone that’s walking through is actually talking about buying now, not just looking. We’re pretty ecstatic with this week’s results and we can only see it getting better.”