Marathon auction stretches into record-breaking sale

By the time the hammer finally fell, the crowd had long gone, most of the agents had packed up and just two buyers were left standing.

Nearly 90 minutes after opening, the marathon auction of an old four-bedroom family home in one of Brisbane’s girl-next-door suburbs had stretched into more than just a battle of wills, but a record-breaking sale.

The sprawling dual-living family home at 186 Park Road, Yeerongpilly, which sits on a leafy 1277-square-metre block, sold under the hammer for $2.555 million on Saturday – smashing the suburb house price record by more than a quarter of a million dollars.

In front of a crowd of 100, bidding opened at $1.8 million, immediately sparking a fight between three active bidders until the auction screeched to a halt at $2.375 million.

An hour of lengthy negotiations followed as buyers battled over settlement terms, until one bidder attempted to break the deadlock with a bold jump to $2.48 million.

Rather than knocking out the competition it sparked a final fight for the keys among the last two buyers standing – a young couple with kids and a mum hunting for the perfect dual living property for her and her adult child’s family – with each trading $1000 and $2000 rises long after the crowd left.

The mum won the keys.

Selling agent Daniel Lazzaroni, of Ray White Bulimba, said the marathon event was ultimately a long exercise in market testing, with the home’s unique qualities – from its size to its dual-living capability – making it difficult to price.

“This was the only sale of its kind in the suburb and it took all three sides, from the buyers to the vendors, to understand that the auction was going to extract the best of the market,” he said.

“And this result tells me that people are willing to spend a bit more on their principal place of residence and if the home ticks all the boxes they are willing to fight for it.”

The home was renovated in 2009 but had remained with the same owners for 35 years. Lazzaroni said it was a standout auction in a market that was beginning to feel the effects of the global conflict, rate hikes and now a federal budget that’s tipped to spark market changes.

It was one of 163 scheduled auctions across South East Queensland over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 39 per cent from 102 reported results, with 12 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.

In Hawthorne, a 1000-square-metre slice of one of the prestige suburb’s last substantial residential land holdings sold under the hammer for $3.475 million to a local family planning to build their dream home.

Part of a larger 1514-square-metre site at 101 Barton Road, the auction came moments after agents unsuccessfully attempted to sell the entire parcel.

Despite attracting strong developer interest, the full site was quickly passed in, prompting the block to be split and auctioned off in two separate parts.

Bidding for the larger block opened at $3 million with two families duelling it out in largely $100,000 rises until $3.4 million. The auction then paused with a final slew of smaller rises thrown up until the hammer fell.

Selling agent Brandon Wortley, of Ray White Bulimba, said the price revealed the value owner occupiers continued to place in blue chip suburbs, particularly amid construction price hikes.

“I think this is just about the largest vacant land holding in Hawthorne … and we were curious to see what kind of appetite this would get – from land bankers through to developers and even owner occupiers,” he said.

“In the end we got it all. We even had overseas interest and buyers from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

“It’s funny because it’s been really well documented about build prices and we went into this auction aware of that the feedback but all the bidders showed so much confidence in spending that money,” he said.

Wortley said the entire block last sold in 2022 for $3.3 million.

“That’s a big price uplift in four years. If we get mid-$1 million for the back block – which is what we’re chasing – that is a 52 per cent rise,” he said.

In Kenmore, a first home buyer splashed $1.275 million on a charming four-bedroom cottage at 7 Euree Street – becoming the home’s second ever owner in its 60-year history.

Perched on a 625-square-metre block and featuring carpet, wallpaper and even furniture from a bygone era, the home attracted four registered bidders, with three actively competing for the keys.

Bidding opened at $975,000 before a flurry of quick-fire offers pushed the price to $1.26 million, where proceedings slowed and “an awful lot of negotiation” until a young man emerged with the keys.

“The truth is I think he was a bit shellshocked when he was signing the contract,” she said.

“I’d only actually met his parents before the auction, but they rang him before it started and said: ‘mate you better get down here and register’. And he arrived 15 minutes later.

“We thought we could get a bit more for the home and we had one buyer who would have paid more after the auction but the owners just loved the romance of it they loved being able to help someone get onto the property ladder.”

The property hit the market after its owner moved into care, leaving his adult children to prepare the cherished family home for sale.

Langstaff said post-budget, buyer and seller sentiment remained steady across her patch thanks to patch – which has long been an owner occupier stronghold – but added that a small number of vendors were considering holding off on hitting the market until the dust settled.

AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Brisbane’s low clearance rate continued to paint a picture of a weakened market, with last week’s federal budget potentially adding further downward pressure.

“The tax changes seem to have depressed investor demand at a time when demand was already low,” he said.

“There will be a lot of uncertainty as people don’t know how big the budget’s impact will be. I suspect that could magnify the downward pressure we were already seeing.”

Oliver said while Brisbane had outperformed Sydney and Melbourne ahead of the budget, south-east Queensland had long been a market heavily supported by investors, which supported the argument that negative gearing and capital gains tax changes could disproportionately impact the region.

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