Camp Hill renovator sells for just under $1 million in spirited auction

Six bidders were ready to fight tooth and nail for 47 Pinecroft Street, Camp Hill on Saturday, as dozens of neighbours watched on.

There is usually not much real estate action in the tightly held street, with only a few sales every few years. The owner of number 47 had kept the home for nearly 40 years.

So naturally, the locals were interested to see who their new neighbour would be.

The three-bedroom home, marketed by Cameron Woods and Zac Morath of LJ Hooker Coorparoo, was built pre-war and sat on a double block. Auctioneer Scott Gemmell said it was ready to move into, but pleaded with potential buyers to keep some of the period features. Renovate the home, “but please promise you’ll polish those lovely timber floors up,” he joked before the auction began.

All six bidders were shy to begin with. “I always say the only time you get 100 people together and have silence is when an auctioneer is looking for a bid!” Mr Gemmell said.

Things kicked off not long after at $700,000, and shot to $960,000 within in fewer than 10 bids. Despite Mr Gemmell’s best efforts to get to $1 million, bidding stalled around $980,000. “I set myself a goal of $1 million, won’t you take me there?” he pleaded. But it eventually sold to a bidder on the phone for $992,000, just short of $1 million.

“Us auctioneers, we play our own little games with ourselves,” Mr Gemmell said afterward. “I try not to do a vendor bid if I can and today $1 million would have been nice since we were starting to get there.”

“It was a great result for our seller, they’ve owned it nearly 40 years and it was more than he expected and was certainly well about the reserve.”

Later on Saturday in Yeronga, a post-war home on the dry side of riverfront Stevens Street passed in without bids from the market.

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The property was marketed at developers, but a collapse in building approvals has pointed to a waning interest in building apartment blocks in Brisbane.

Daynes Property’s Adrian Daynes said the house would have sold in a flash 18 months ago, but developers were now more cautious. Despite this, several post-auction offers were submitted to Mr Daynes.

“The market’s cooled off with the unit developments, but we’ve got several conditional expressions of interest submitted after the auction,” Mr Daynes said.

After a brief auction in Oxley, a four-bedroom home with a view sold to a family of five looking for a home after years of renting.

“It’s pretty expensive to rent, so we’re keen to get into something cheaper,” Murray McDonald said.

The house ticked a lot of boxes for his family, he said. “The view off the back is fantastic and the kitchen is lovely and I need the four rooms for the kids.”

“It seems peaceful, it seems like a peaceful area and I ride to work so there’s the ability to get onto the Western Freeway bikeway.”

The house was read to move into, with very little needing to be done in way of renovations, Place Graceville‘s Ted Hagemeijer said. “The current owners have owned it for nearly 10 years and in that time they’ve flipped it.”