The magnum opus of a Brisbane artisan builder has sold for $2.2 million under the hammer, collecting the city’s highest recorded sale at auction over the weekend.
Self-confessed Queenslander tragic and renowned “old-school renovator” Bill Brown snapped up the former house of horrors at 27 Gladstone Street, Indooroopilly, just under 40 years ago for $85,000, before spending decades restoring his colonial-era home into what’s since been dubbed one of Brisbane’s finest.
After a fast-and-furious auction campaign, selling agent and principal Kris Matthews, of Ray White Toowong, said 11 registered bidders battled it out for the meticulous four-bedroom house, with a family from the very same street securing the winning bid.
“The market is incredibly strong — 12 months ago we would not have seen a result like this. It really is going from strength to strength and we are seeing no signs of a winter cool down,” Mr Matthews said.
27 Gladstone Street, Indooroopilly QLD 4068
That real estate fire was burning in Kelvin Grove on Saturday, where Tamara Lee, of Ray White Ashgrove, secured a reserve-smashing $937,000 for a miniscule three-bedroom abode on a 304-square-metre block at 15 Victoria Street.
It was the first time the rundown cottage had sold in six decades – with the sale marking the end of an era for the Sicilian family who had called it home for all those years.
“They were a lovely family, and it was very, very emotional for them,” Ms Lee said.
“The house was also stuck in a time warp from 60 years ago and it even had the ’60s retro kitchen. There were tears everywhere when it sold under the hammer on Saturday. The Sicilian family burst into tears — they were really happy it went to first-home buyers who had been looking for six months and had missed out on so many homes.”
15 Victoria Street, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059
While it was a fairytale ending and a fairytale for beginning for two families, Ms Lee confessed the road to auction success wasn’t smooth sailings.
“The highest offer we had before the auction was $820,000 and the reserve was then set and that was an ambitious reserve compared to what sold nearby just a week ago,” she said.
“But, two days before the event we lost that buyer and then the buyer with the second-highest offer withdrew by email.
“Then it sold for $937,000 and it stunned me, it stunned the street and it stunned the neighbours and the buyers who were bidding to the end had no problem with paying it, they were just so happy to get a house.”
Nearby, in Ashgrove, Ms Lee collected $1.56 million for a cottage in dire need of a fresh coat of paint at 20 Plant Street, with a local family forking out $210,000 above the reserve price.
“We only had 60 groups through that whole campaign, so not massive numbers and we were thinking, ‘is this going to go off’?
“But, then we had 16 registered bidders and I think that’s because there’s no stock and then there’s the location of the house. It may not have been a typical ‘Ashgrovian’ house that’s been renovated beautifully, but it ticked all the boxes for bedrooms and bathrooms.
20 Plant Street, Ashgrove QLD 4060
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom abode — on a 405-square-metre block — had not been renovated since 2002. The highest offer before auction came in at $1.3 million.
In the city’s south, and in the heart of Sunnybank, Place Estate Agents Annerley agent Mitchell Smith sold a sprawling family home at 90 Valhalla Street for $1.379 million – a strong result he said revealed just how much the underrated suburb was blossoming.
“We had 19 registered bidders, which was a fair bit more than we thought we would have and we got close to $100,000 over the reserve price,” Mr Smith said.
“I think just having all those registered bidders shows that this market is really firing at the moment. There are three properties in that street all under contract but I do think ours was a great sale.
“The location of that home is really good and it’s been the same owner for 20 years but, interestingly, the buyer had been driving past that home for 10 years and had been saying for all those years that when it comes on the market, he’ll buy it.”
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house, on a 655-square-metre block, was the top sale registered in Sunnybank on Saturday, with three more homes sold under the hammer in what Mr Smith said was proof the southern patch wasn’t exempt from the boom igniting Brisbane’s soaring property market.
Within the Queensland capital a total of 49 homes sold at auction from 69 on Saturday, with sales totalling more than $28 million.
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