A Brisbane man who spent four years hoping to get his hands on a rare Red Hill home was finally handed the keys on Saturday – after splashing a reserve-smashing $2.32 million to get them.
Having fallen in love with the striking four-bedroom house at 111 Arthur Terrace during the pandemic, he outmuscled three other bidders in just eight minutes to seal the deal.
On a 506 square-metre-block, two-bathroom home is steeped in Brisbane history, featuring bricks from the Cannon Hill stockyards, cupboards from a convent and benchtops crafted out of floor joists from the Treasury Building – alongside supporting pillars from Brett’s Wharf.
Held by a local investor, the home was rented out for $1000 a week and last sold in 2018 for $1.03 million.
The buyer opened bidding at $1.6 million, triggering a series of $100,000 jumps that quickly narrowed the field to two before the hammer fell.
“It was incredibly fast and two of them really wanted it. The underbidders were second-home buyers upgrading … but the local had had his eye on this house for four years,” said selling agent Alex Rutherford, of Place New Farm.
“It just went so well … and at the end the vendors were ecstatic and the buyer was numb.”
The striking four-bedroom house at 111 Arthur Terrace is steeped in Brisbane history.Credit: Domain/Place Estate Agents
Rutherford said the final price sailed well past the undisclosed reserve, with pre-auction offers significantly “off $2 million”.
She said the home’s unique construction fuelled the strong result, alongside a lack of stock and surging demand in Red Hill.
111 Arthur Terrace sold at auction for $2.32 million.Credit: Domain/Place Estate Agents
The home was among 126 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 49 per cent from 82 reported results, with nine homes withdrawn.
In Brisbane’s south, a young couple fought off six rivals to secure an unrenovated brick home, with the hammer finally falling at $1.593 million after a bidding war that featured 40 rapid-fire $1000 bids.
Held by the same family for two decades, the five-bedroom house at 198 Monash Road, Tarragindi, attracted eight registered bidders, including two who turned up on the day without having seen the property. Bidding opened at $1.4 million before seven buyers traded $25,000 rises.
“We had 47 bids in total and 40 of those were bids in the 1000s,” said selling agent Julia Doyle, of Place Estate Agents Camp Hill.
“We made the auctioneer work for that one.”
On a 655-square-metre block opposite Toohey Forest Park, the home drew a broad mix of buyers, from first-home hopefuls to investors eyeing land-banking opportunities.
“It was a popular one because it’s a brick home and buyers loved that they didn’t have to pay for renovations other people had done, so they saw it as good value,” Doyle said.
In Carina Heights, two local buyers battled for a four-bedroom Queenslander on a rare 1012-square-metre block – leading to a reserve-topping $1.92 million sale.
Built circa 1910 and relocated from Ipswich in the mid-1990s, the home at 41 Gallipoli Road, Carina Heights, features a resort-style pool and a renovated kitchen. Bidding opened at $1.5 million and climbed in $100,000 increments before stalling into closed-door negotiations.
Selling agent Solomon Michael, of Coronis Inner South, said both bidders were southside-based couples drawn by the land size and presentation.
“Having that large land size is becoming so hard to find and then the position of the home and just the prettiness of it was something they loved,” he said.
“The vendors have been there for eight years and they did a fair bit of work to the home to suit their lifestyle before shifting interstate,” Michael said.
“I sold it to them back then for $845,000. And that in itself shows the growth that’s happened in Carina Heights.”
Back in Red Hill, a three-bedroom cottage at 18 Woolcock Street attracted 16 registered bidders, with five actively competing before it sold for $1,921,000 – more than double its price from just over six years ago.
A buyer’s agent opened bidding for the home on a 276-square-metre block at $1.5 million, before a fast-paced exchange left a young local couple battling a man bidding on behalf of his father-in-law. The couple secured the keys.
Selling agent Michael Kleimeyer, of Ray White Paddington, said the home’s condition, dual street access and proximity to the CBD proved irresistible.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Brisbane’s auction market had bounced back from the Christmas break, but warned the recent cash rate hike would likely put a dampener on growth.
“Brisbane’s market got distracted by the shortage of supply while also benefiting from high levels of interstate migration during the last rate rise cycle … but this time around they might have more of an impact because affordability is quite a bit worse,” he said.
“My biggest feeling is the Brisbane market will slow down.”
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