Massive Clayfield estate sells for $4.1 million at Brisbane auctions

Brisbane’s temperature continues to rise but that’s not stopping buyers from flocking to auctions across the city.

There were 94 auctions at the weekend, with a reported clearance rate of 58 per cent. 

A stately four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on 2034 square metres at 100 Oriel Road, Clayfield, in Brisbane’s inner north, sold at auction for $4.1 million. 

About 80 people watched as four registered bidders battled it out for 15 minutes for the keys to the grand home.

Bidding opened at $3 million, then worked its way up between three of the bidders to $3.95 million. 

After brief negotiations the highest bidder increased his bid to $4.1 million, at which point the house was declared on the market and sold.  

Selling agent Damon Warat, of Ray White Ascot, said the fantastic result came down to the fundamental quality of the property. 

“It’s very unique due to its size,” he said. “It’s a post-war property on over 2000 square metres. It’s also in really good shape, which is really conducive to maximising space with a house with a pool, tennis court, and yard. And, it faces north, so it ticks all the boxes of fundamental good real estate.

“It was predominantly family buyers, all of them were owner-occupiers, and all were looking for their forever home.”

The buyers were a young family looking to move to a larger block. They plan to make improvements to the house, and live there for many years. Meanwhile, the vendors bought the house as a forever home but a change in circumstances meant they had to move.

Mr Warat said both parties were emotional once the hammer was dropped, but were ultimately happy with the result. 

Elsewhere, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom character Queenslander set on 405 square metres at 45 Richmond Street, Gordon Park, was sold at a well-attended auction that also played host to a bizarre coincidence. 

The vendors bought the house on the same date six years ago. Selling agent Holly Bowden, of Ray White Wilston, said they were delighted with the result, but it was a strange experience for them. 

“When we sat down and talked about auctioning the property, and I mentioned the 23rd November and said it’s four weeks from now, it’ll probably be a good date, she said ‘oh, well, that’s when we bought the property’,” Ms Bowden said. 

“Yesterday … [the vendor] said ‘this is so weird, sitting here signing this contract and thinking back to six years ago when I was sitting right at this same kitchen bench buying it’.”

About 40 people crowded on to the house’s back deck to watch for 15 minutes as 10 registered bidders tried to stake their claim on the property. 

Bidding opened at $900,000, then quickly jumped to $950,000 and again to $1 million. At that point, the race began as 19 bids were cast before the house was ultimately sold for $1,112,500.

Ms Bowden said the result spoke to the property’s wide appeal. 

“It was a really spirited auction, with a lot of confident buyers,” she said. “It ticked off so many boxes for different demographics. We had young families, we had downsizers.

“The last two bidders, one was a downsizer and the other was a single professional in his late 20s. It just appealed to a broad demographic.”

She said the Gordon Park area was attracting a lot of interest from the types of people usually interested in more inner-city suburbs.

“The last three properties I’ve sold in Gordon Park I’ve sold to young professionals leaving New Farm, Teneriffe and moving to the ‘burbs,” she said. “They want to have the cafes, they want to have the walking tracks.”

The buyer was a single gentleman who was looking for a large home he could share with his friends, and was particularly interested in Brisbane’s inner north. This was the second property he had made an offer on. 

Meanwhile, the sellers have moved farther out of Brisbane to be closer to family and have a larger block size. Both parties were very happy with the result.