Buyer pays $1.3m million for Queensland cottage that could not be inspected before the auction

Who’d pay $1.3 million for a house without inspecting it?

The buyer of this Queenslander character home, which was rundown and unable to be viewed, had to. With their leap of faith they have secured an inspiring project in a high capital-growth neighbourhood.

The property at 46 Morley Street, Toowong – a highly-sought riverside suburb of Brisbane – sold at auction on March 22.

SOLD - $1,300,000

46 Morley Street, Toowong QLD 4066

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The listing, handled by the Public Trustee of Queensland, explains the weatherboard house is in “desperate need of some love and attention”, and will transact “sight unseen, as is, where is”.

The pre-war worker’s cottage has remnant expressions of the charming state it was once in, and could again become, including VJ walls, high ceilings and a lone chandelier.

Entry is via a sunroom, with a separate kitchen, dining and living room – typical of the era – and three bedrooms.

Listing photos show it is worn to the bone, with blemished floors and dirty paintwork and a rusted bathroom. The is kitchen clinging on, heavily coated in debris, with missing cupboard doors and the relic of an old cooker.

The property is elevated – a common style in Queensland, to promote air circulation and cooling. Timber is missing from the exterior of this lower level and a drain pipe juts at a precarious angle.

Massively in its favour is the opportunity to renovate or add an extension after a makeover, subject to council go-ahead, in a suburb with more than 64 per cent house price growth over five years.

Domain’s December 2023 House Price Report shows the Toowong median is $1.45 million – a lift of 64.3 per cent over five years. However, it has cooled in the short term, dipping 8.2 per cent in 12 months.

Brisbane has been a standout property performer in recent months.

Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth ended 2023 with record high house prices, Domain data showed.

Unit prices in Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide are also at their highest ever.

Brisbane apartments are the stars of the local market, with growth reaching a 16-year peak. The price of units in Brisbane are now so high that they have narrowed the price gap between units and houses. House prices are in a fourth quarter of growth, Domain’s December 2023 House Price Report showed.