Brisbane auctions: Buyers storm auctions before bad weather hits

The severe storms that hit Brisbane on Saturday afternoon held off long enough for a mix of properties to sell at auction.

The rain started not long after the hammer fell on a character-filled two-bedroom, one bathroom home at 44 Zig Zag Street in Red Hill.

A mostly hip and young crowd of about 30 people gathered to watch the auction, with six people registered to bid.

Bidding started at $500,000, and after a pause for negotiations the hammer fell at $690,000.

Selling agent Tamara Lee, of Ray White Ashgrove, said interest in the property had been mostly from people looking for an affordable entry into the Paddington and Red Hill area.

And affordable it is, with the median house price for Red Hill currently at $ 810,000. However due to the slope of the block and restrictions on character – the property’s roofline cannot be changed – it would take a lot of work to make any modifications to the existing property.

The unrenovated but totally livable home sold to an architect who plans to “do it up”.

A Taringa property that needs no doing up at all thanks to a recent thorough renovation sold for $912,000 at auction in the morning.

Selling agent Mark MacGillivray, of Ray White Toowong, said the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 30 Gregory Street is almost entirely new inside and out; a factor which attracted a number of young professionals as well as empty-nesters to inspect the property.

Eight people registered to bid in the auction which had a quick first bid of $800,000, selling for $912,000 after a speedy auction.

In Coorparoo, a character Queenslander on a large 607 square metre block sold for $811,000 at an auction which attracted a crowd of about 25 people.

Seven registered to bid for 16 Macaulay Street, including one investor from interstate, but it was a local who won on the day.

Selling agent Tim McConnell, of Place Coorparoo, said the beneficiaries of the deceased estate were happy to see it go to another family who might keep the home’s history alive.

“To see it going to a family who are going to love it for another 50 years or more is wonderful,” he said.