Unliveable house sells a second time after reno abandoned

A fire-ravaged home south of Brisbane that last sold a year ago for $400,000 has changed hands again, this time fetching $600,000 despite being unliveable.

Partially rebuilt after its interstate owners abandoned their renovation plans, three bidders battled for the Kingston house on Sunday, with each banking on the land value in what’s become one of the city’s fastest-growing pockets.

Marketed as a half-finished three-bedroom opportunity with all the kitchen materials included and ready for installation, the home, at 22 Ashvale Street, sits on a 600-square-metre corner block in a postcode where undeveloped blocks have become increasingly rare.

Bidding opened at $400,000 with the three out of the five registered bidders trading steady $50,000 and $25,000 rises until $570,000. The auction then paused, with the property selling shortly after in negotiations.

Selling agent Ramin Bay, of Ray White Logan City, said the three bidders planned to finish the build and use the home as an investment.

“They could see the capital growth potential – especially considering how rare blocks are there,” he said.

“Kingston sits in the 4144 postcode which includes Woodridge and most of this area is now subdivided.”

Domain’s latest house price data captured the eye-watering growth of the pocket, particularly in neighbouring Woodridge, where median house prices climbed 203.8 per cent in five years to $607,500. Kingston values also shot up, with medians rising 14.9 per cent in the past 12 months to $750,000.

Despite the uplift, Bay said the owners had made the tough choice to offload the home after finding the renovations too hard to manage from afar.

“Even though they live in Sydney, they always believed in that area and while it wasn’t the first home they had renovated and sold, this one involved a lot more structural work,” he said.

“The bedrooms had a lot of fire damage and they took that away and demolished half of the house … but the house still needs a new bathroom and kitchen and basically everything.”

But Bay said they had turned a profit.

The Kingston house was one of 64 scheduled auctions across South East Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 37 per cent from 46 reported results, with seven homes withdrawn.

In Kuraby, a 20-year-old estate in one of the suburb’s most tightly held blue-chip pockets smashed its reserve, selling for $2.381 million under the hammer on Sunday.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house – at 32 Beris Crescent – attracted 10 registered bidders, with three upsizers competing.

Set on a 748-square-metre block with a pool, shed and quality fittings, bidding opened at $1.8 million before quickly climbing past $2.38 million.

A family from a neighbouring suburb nabbed the keys.

Selling agent Jacky Chu, of Place Sunnybank, said the vendors snapped up the home 10 years ago for $1.095 million, only making minor updates during that time.

“The other auctions we had this weekend were a bit tougher, so this result tells us good and rare homes – even with market certainty – are still getting good interest,” he said.

“The buyers live close by and have mum and dad with them, so they’re a multi-generational family, and they loved the upstairs and downstairs living options.”

In Windsor, a first-home buyer snapped up a one-bedroom unit prior to auction for $703,000 amid soaring demand for the entry-level apartments.

The unit at 16/26 Le Geyt Street last sold for $523,000 two years ago, and for $312,000 in 2021.

Selling agent Andy Flanagan, of Ray White Ascot, said that transaction timeline perfectly illustrated a major attitude shift towards the once-polarising one-bedder.

“Ten years ago, first-home buyers used to steer clear of them,” he said.

“But as two-bedroom units became more expensive, it really pushed people to them and created an opportunity.

“We ended up selling this one prior just because of how competitive it was.

“The vendors had bought it as their first home and the buyer was a single bloke.”

Flanagan said the home’s study space – which he described as one of the most sought-after features among one-bedroom unit buyers – fuelled demand.

LJ Hooker chief of research Matthew Tiller said while the Easter and Anzac Day period had softened activity, listing volumes were beginning to recover.

“We are seeing a slow uptick in the number of listings overall coming online after Easter and we will see that continue to grow over the coming months,” he said.

“But numbers still remain below average.”

Tiller added that sentiment remained positive across South East Queensland, with a lack of new homes being built amid tight supply underpinning buyer confidence.

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