Two-year search over with $1.7m five-bedder, while fire victim bids farewell to Jindalee block

A local woman who had been outbid at every auction for almost two years finally won the keys to an Underwood home after paying $1.725 million.

The tidy five-bedroom, three-bathroom house – at 5 Torville Road – sits on a 520-square-metre block in one of the suburb’s top pockets and attracted six registered bidders.

Three actively competed in front of a crowd of spectators who were there to clock the current market.

An interstate phone bidder from Sydney opened the auction at $1.4 million, sparking a flurry of $50,000 and then $20,000 rises between the trio. At $1.68 million the phone bidder tapped out and at $1.7 million the underbidder admitted defeat.

Selling agent Zishaan Omar of Ray White, who sold the house with Harsh Bhasin and Courtney Thomas, said both buyer and seller were over the moon.

“The buyer had been priced out of the market at every auction she came to over the past two years … When she put in her final bid and got it she was absolutely ecstatic and couldn’t be more thankful,” he said.

“It was their area of choice, too. They had moved up from Loganlea and loved that it had multiple living areas and was close to work and schools and their community.”

Omar said the auction highlighted the opportunities for buyers pushed out of pricier suburbs at the height of the property boom, adding that eased competition had allowed many to gain a foothold in areas that previously felt inaccessible.

“Now they feel like they are in with a chance,” he said.

For the vendors, who built the home more than a decade ago, the result was just as significant.

“The majority of the price feedback from buyers prior to auction was $1.55 million – that’s what they were willing to pay,” said Omar.

“And the night before the auction the vendor said to me: ‘Zishaan, I’m OK if we don’t sell, I know how the market is right now’.

“This result tells me that while there’s uncertainty among buyers, if you have the right property, in the right location, you can generate buyers.”

It was one of 126 scheduled auctions across South East Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 24 per cent from 82 reported results, with 14 homes withdrawn.

From a camp chair across the road, with a cuppa in hand, the elderly owner of a Jindalee home destroyed by fire last year watched her vacant block sell under the hammer for $992,000 on Saturday.

A young family outbid three rivals to claim the tightly held parcel.

The long-time local had called 27 Conargo Street home for more than 30 years before losing the house in a blaze last September. Its charred remains were demolished months ago, leaving a rare elevated, build-ready 644-square-metre block in a suburb where vacant lots are almost extinct.

Place auctioneer Glenn Bool said for the vendor, the result was bittersweet.

“She’s owned it since the ’90s, and while I was calling the auction I could see a lot of the neighbours recognised her as she sat under the tree across the road.

“She was thrilled when the hammer came down but I think she was relieved too, and a bit overwhelmed. She’s probably owned that property for longer than the buyers have been alive.”

Selling agent Amanda Wang, of Place Purpose Group, said it was a sad story with a happy conclusion for the vendor.

“She had this lovely garden out the back, and now her and her little dog will move elsewhere … but what was lovely was having so many of the neighbours there.”

Bool described the wider market as “back to normal” and more balanced after the sugar high of the pandemic boom, but said serious buyers and sellers remained active.

In Morningside, an elderly couple sat in their old car and nervously watched their home of 30 years hit the auction block. They had already bought another property with the help of a bridging loan. A reasonable result meant they could safely move on, but a good one could leave them with enough for a new car.

Just one buyer – a developer – turned up to bid.

After a long negotiation that saw the buyer bid against the auctioneer, the hammer fell at $1.675 million. Seconds later selling agent Carol Spalding, of REMAX Results, walked over to the couple and told them they could go car shopping.

“They were so relieved. They just wanted it sold they were not only on a bridging loan but also travelling to see their daughter and trying to pack up their house after 30 years in it,” she said.

“They just wanted to be able to go to bed that night and sleep soundly. And they did.”

The four-bedroom house at 8 Gloriana Street sits on an 852-square-metre “dog-leg” block and was in need of renovation.

Spalding said the buyer will knock down the house and build units or townhouses.

PRD Nationwide chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said while Brisbane’s clearance rate remained low, it had slightly improved amid a rise in confidence.

“This is actually showing me there’s more demand in the auction market,” she said.