A Queenslander held by one family for decades has shrugged off Brisbane’s slumping market, sailing past its reserve to sell for $1.96 million on Saturday.
The classic three-bedroom home sits on an 810-square-metre block at 13 Orchid Street, Enoggera, just a stone’s throw from schools and parks in a tightly held pocket.
Before a huge crowd of neighbours, family and onlookers, four registered bidders turned up for a shot at the keys and three bid after the auction opened at $1.85 million.
The price climbed in $20,000 and then $10,000 increments until a man from regional Queensland was left standing.
“We tried to push him to pay $2 million … but he said he didn’t want to bid against himself,” said selling agent Andrew Degn of Place West.
“Then when the hammer fell the crowd roared and clapped. The whole street was there.
“But there were a few tears, too. The parents had passed away and left the home for the kids.
“Still, we were very happy with the result. It sold very comfortably over the reserve … it really was a once-in-a-lifetime buy.”
Degn said the buyer loved the location, block size and the home’s classic features, such as the VJ walls and leadlight windows.
Despite the strong result, he said uncertainty continued to weigh on market sentiment.
“Every week is a moving beast. And we didn’t know what was going to happen with this auction,” he said.
“But we did have good inspections [over the weekend] including from people looking to move to Brisbane next year, as we are still relatively affordable.”
The home was one of 161 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 18 per cent from 100 reported results, with 17 homes withdrawn.
In Springwood, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a pool on a 708-square-metre block at 8 Westgate Avenue sold for $1.09 million, just shy of its $1.1 million reserve.
Eight registered and six actively competed after a phone bidder opened at $850,000.
A flurry of $50,000 and then $25,000 rises followed before bidding slowed to $10,000 increments. At $1.07 million it stalled and selling agent Johnson Teo, of Ray White Springwood, darted between the two remaining punters to keep the auction moving.
“The reserve was $1.1 million, so I had a call with the auctioneer and the sellers and together we agreed that if there was no more after $1.08 million, we had to consider it because at the end of the day it’s a cash contract,” he said.
“Then we got the eventual buyers up to $1.09 million and gave them a couple of extra weeks [to settle].
“It was the best offer we got throughout the entire campaign … and in this market, this result was gold.”
Teo said the buyers, a family with young teenagers, loved the home’s pool. For the vendors, he said the result was a relief as it allowed them to upsize in another suburb.
“I am seeing an upsizing trend and this family are a really good example of it. They could have gone to the market six months ago, but they couldn’t afford it back then,” he said.
Teo said median property prices in Springwood had mimicked the broader market, dropping by about 15 per cent.
“Some economists are saying it’s the worst drop in 40 years … but we’re not at the point of distressed listings yet,” he said.
At 98 Perth Street, Camp Hill, a four-bedroom home on a sprawling 1014-square-metre battle-axe block sold for $1.625 million after a brief two-way contest.
The underbidder opened at $1.45 million, prompting the auctioneer to bring the price to $1.5 million.
After back and forth negotiation, it sold under the hammer.
“Realistically, there were two bidders and three bids,” said Shane Hicks, of Place Camp Hill.
“The drawcard for these buyers was the fact that it’s a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on a lovely big block of land,” he said.
“The previous family had been there for 20 years and they really enjoyed it. But my experience with battle-axe blocks is when you live there, people love them – but trying to sell that dream to others is tough.”
Hicks said tough market conditions had drained the buyer pool.
“We had about 30 groups come through the four weekends of inspections, but it was mostly families,” he said.
“A year ago there would have been investors and builders, too … and we would have had eight to 10 bidders.”
Hicks said his team had clocked a good week of sales off the back of vendors meeting the market, but conditions remained in a stalemate, with prices unlikely to rise until “we have a change of government”.
“Around 41 per cent of the mortgages out there are investors and to turn off that tap is a big sledgehammer,” he said.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Brisbane sat at the bottom of the capital-city pack for clearance rates at the weekend.
“The only thing preventing even lower (clearance rates) is listings remain lower than they were a year ago. But if the economy continues to slow we’ll see a rise in unemployment,” he said.