Wealthy buyers splash cash in prestige property spree

Wealthy buyers have been on a southeast Queensland property spree this year, splashing out nearly $118 million on just 10 houses.

In what has been described by agents as an “unprecedented” year for prestige, some of southeast Queensland’s most expensive properties have changed hands.

Topping the list was the $25 million sale of former Billabong boss Scott Perrin’s Gold Coast mansion, which sold to an interstate buyer in September.

Mr Perrin bought the 2833 square metre property for $4.4 million in 2000 then reportedly spent $20 million building the home, which features six bedrooms, a retractable roof and an 11-car garage.

A property on the Corso at Surfers Paradise sold for $15.5 million in February and in April, 107 Albatross Avenue at Mermaid Beach sold for $14.45 million.

Prestige specialist agent Michael Kollosche named the $13.25 million sale of beachfront mansion 159 Hedges Avenue in March as his turning point for 2016.

“It really set the pace for the year. Before this year, the highest sale on the Gold Coast was about $8.4 million over the past five years,” he said.

“After that sale in March, they just kept rolling in steadily, anywhere from $7 million to $15 million – and they’re still coming. I’ve just sold another property for $11 million last week.”

The most expensive property sold in Brisbane this year was the off-market purchase of a three-level riverfront home at 89 Welsby Street, New Farm, by Australia’s richest female CEO, Maxine Horne, for $10.5 million.

Sold by Judy Goodger Prestige, the property has since been rented out for $2900 a week.

Ms Goodger revealed she had two buyers both competing for the Welsby Street mansion.

“That’s an indication of how strong the market is … to have two buyers running on that property … it’s the best we’ve seen since the GFC,” she said.

“People are confident, there’s stability. And in Brisbane, there’s a finite amount of prestige property … I’m dealing with people now who want to buy and we just don’t have the stock to sell them.”

New Farm wasn’t the only place Maxine Horne splashed out in 2016 – the Vita Group chief was involved in a number of multimillion-dollar property transactions throughout southeast Queensland this year.

In June, Horne purchased the Sunshine Coast’s most expensive property of 2016, securing a Sunshine Beach dream home for $9.3 million.

Sold by Tom Offermann, the five-bedroom home at 11 Webb Road is set on 1460sq m of prime beachfront land and boasts a lagoon-style pool framed by lush tropical gardens and green lawn leading onto the sand.

In September, her and Fone Zone co-founder and husband David McMahon sold their stunning Hamptons-style Ascot estate at Sutherland Avenue for $8,615,000.

Purchased by Dominos Pizza head Don Meij, it was Brisbane’s second-highest residential sale.

McMahon and Horne had also sold their Mermaid Beach weekender to former Hockeyroo Louise Dobson for $4.75 million not long before that.

Sarah Hackett, co-director of Place Estate agents in Brisbane, described 2016 as “unprecedented”.

“Since July, our company has had record returns,” she said.

“We’ve had our best year to date and I would say prestige is certainly driving that.”

Ms Hackett, who heads a company of more than 300 employees and 13 agency businesses, personally handled one of Brisbane’s top sales for 2016.

Only two weeks ago, John Briggs, of motorsport racing and Fortitude Valley dealership John Briggs Alfa Romeo, paid $8.6 million for a riverfront property at Virginia Avenue, Hawthorne.

“Growth of prestige property has been steady but time on the market has gotten shorter,” Ms Hackett said.

“There’s not much stock and that’s really make or break in Brisbane, particularly on the riverfront. People are making decisions quickly. It’s pretty exciting.”

The record price paid for a Brisbane home still belongs to Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, which sold for $14 million in 2014. Queensland’s all-time record price, set in 2008 when businessman Tony Smith sold five beachfront blocks of adjoining Gold Coast land, unfinished mansion included, is $27 million.