A retired couple who initially said they were not interested ended up buying a run-down home in Clontarf for $675,000 after wandering past its auction with their dog, Denis the Menace.
The pair had attended the first open home at 9 Thomas Street but asked to be removed from the buyer list. They later decided to register at the auction, where they outbid three other parties and secured the four-bedroom, two-bathroom property.
The couple plan to renovate the deceased estate and give it to their daughter. The house stands on a 594-square-metre block close to the water, but selling agent Jesse James said it required extensive work.
“In my opinion you’d have to strip it back to the frame … you’d have to spend $250,000 on it,” said Mr James, of Ray White Redland Bay.
As the contract was signed, Mr James credited Denis with helping bring the buyers to the auction. But the sale also highlighted the pressure facing Brisbane’s property market, with only 13 groups attending inspections over three weeks.
Bidding opened at $200,000 and reached $500,000, at which point all four registered bidders had been active before stopping. A vendor bid took the price to $600,000, before an offer of $650,000 was referred back to the seller and the property eventually sold for $675,000.
“When we got to $500,000, all four registered bidders had been active and then they all stopped,” Mr James said.
“But we kept it going with a vendor bid at $600,000. I said, ‘Guys, it’s not selling for $600,000.’ And then we got an increase to $650,000 and took it back to the seller.”
The result was almost $300,000 below the home’s valuation in March, which was recorded at less than $1 million. Mr James said four registered bidders was nevertheless a positive outcome given the condition of the property and recent interest rate rises.
“Especially when you think about the interest rate rises,” he said.
The Reserve Bank increased the cash rate to 4.6 per cent last Tuesday, its highest level since 2011. Mr James said the rise had added to difficult conditions, while the gap between what sellers wanted and buyers were prepared to pay remained the market’s biggest challenge.
He said more properties could come to market in the weeks ahead as listings remained unsold, including distressed sales from owners who had entered the market during the previous two years.
Brisbane auction market remains subdued
The Clontarf property was among 145 homes scheduled for auction across south-east Queensland during the week. Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 22 per cent from 102 reported results by Saturday evening, with 12 homes withdrawn.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said sentiment remained negative, describing Brisbane’s figures as “bleak” and suggesting the city was becoming more vulnerable than Sydney and Adelaide.
There were stronger results for high-end, move-in-ready homes. A newly built five-bedroom property in Windsor sold for $3.7 million to a mother of three who lived about 100 metres away and had watched it being constructed.
The house, on a 405-square-metre block, included a swimming pool and built-in bar. Its buyer opened the bidding at $3 million, prompting a series of $100,000 increases between two of the three registered bidders.
In Red Hill, a five-bedroom home on a 930-square-metre block sold for $2.96 million to a couple who lived a few streets away. The property, which had last sold for $1.65 million in 2020, featured a pool, gazebo and pizza oven.
