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.
asserted
Queenslander → hold → 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.
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home → sit → 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.
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auction → register → million
The price climbed in $20,000 and then $10,000 increments until a man from regional Queensland was left standing.
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man → climb → Queensland
“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.
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Degn → try → West
“Then when the hammer fell the crowd roared and clapped.
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crowd → fall → ?
The parents had passed away and left the home for the kids.
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parents → pass → kids
It sold very comfortably over the reserve … it really was a once-in-a-lifetime buy.”
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it → sell → lifetime
Degn said the buyer loved the location, block size and the home’s classic features, such as the VJ walls and leadlight windows.
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buyer → say → walls
Despite the strong result, he said uncertainty continued to weigh on market sentiment.
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uncertainty → say → sentiment
“Every week is a moving beast.
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week → move → ?
And we didn’t know what was going to happen with this auction,” he said.
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he → know → auction
“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.”
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we → have → Brisbane
The home was one of 161 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland over the past week.
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home → schedule → week
By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 18 per cent from 100 reported results, with 17 homes withdrawn.
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homes → record → results
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.
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home → sell → reserve
Eight registered and six actively competed after a phone bidder opened at $850,000.
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bidder → register → 850,000
A flurry of $50,000 and then $25,000 rises followed before bidding slowed to $10,000 increments.
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bidding → follow → 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.
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auction → stall → punters
“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].
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we → have → weeks
“It was the best offer we got throughout the entire campaign … and in this market, this result was gold.”
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result → get → market
Teo said the buyers, a family with young teenagers, loved the home’s pool.
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buyers → say → pool
For the vendors, he said the result was a relief as it allowed them to upsize in another suburb.
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them → say → suburb
“I am seeing an upsizing trend and this family are a really good example of it.
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family → see → it
They could have gone to the market six months ago, but they couldn’t afford it back then,” he said.
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he → go → it
Teo said median property prices in Springwood had mimicked the broader market, dropping by about 15 per cent.
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prices → say → 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.
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he → say → listings
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.
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home → sell → contest
The underbidder opened at $1.45 million, prompting the auctioneer to bring the price to $1.5 million.
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underbidder → open → million
After back and forth negotiation, it sold under the hammer.
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it → sell → hammer
“Realistically, there were two bidders and three bids,” said Shane Hicks, of Place Camp Hill.
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Hicks → be → 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.
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he → ’ → land
“The previous family had been there for 20 years and they really enjoyed it.
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they → enjoy → 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.”
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trying → live → others
Hicks said tough market conditions had drained the buyer pool.
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conditions → say → pool
“We had about 30 groups come through the four weekends of inspections, but it was mostly families,” he said.
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he → have → inspections
“A year ago there would have been investors and builders, too … and we would have had eight to 10 bidders.”
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we → have → 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”.
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we → say → government
“Around 41 per cent of the mortgages out there are investors and to turn off that tap is a big sledgehammer,” he said.
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he → turn → tap
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Brisbane sat at the bottom of the capital-city pack for clearance rates at the weekend.
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Brisbane → say → weekend
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
