Source : the age
A “bold” Queens Wharf apartment that languished in the listings for six months has sold under the hammer for $3.43 million after three buyers battled for the keys.
Perched on the 51st floor of Diamond Residences, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at 5108/8 Margaret Street features 152 square metres of living space and sprawling city views.
At the Thursday-night auction a local family outmuscled a phone bidder and another local punter to clinch the deal, recording the highest result in south-east Queensland last week.
Ray White Wilston’s Sam Henderson said the sale was a relief for the vendors, who first listed the home last year before withdrawing it six months later after scarcely getting a bite.
Henderson later landed the listing and launched a “clinical” auction campaign that saw the home painstakingly styled ahead of multiple inspections over four weeks.
“We ended up with 16 inquiries and 11 inspection attendees, with a lot of them being local downsizers,” he said.
“I had two offers on the property prior to the auction and three registered bidders, which led to a premium price.”
The auction opened at $1.5 million, sparking a slow battle between two onsite buyers and one phone bidder until $2.5 million.
From there the pace picked up with rapid $100,000 rises exchanged until $3.3 million. Bidding then slowed to $50,000 increments until one buyer was left. After a short negotiation, the hammer fell.
“The vendors were relieved, to be honest,” Henderson said.
“This unit presented a home and a level of status and it’s a very bold property. And you have to be someone bold and know your worth to want it.”
Property records show the vendors paid $2.89 million for the home in 2021, marking a $540,000 price rise in five years.
The last three-bedroom unit to sell in Diamond Residences fetched $3.715 million in April.
The apartment was one of 118 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland.
By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 16 per cent from 83 reported results, with 15 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.
In Parkinson, an interstate migrant paid $1.485 million for a brick lowset home, outbidding two locals.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house sits on a 705-square-metre block at 35 May Street and features a self-contained studio and saltwater pool.
Three registered bidders vied for the keys, until shortly after $1.4 million when the underbidder dropped out, leaving the auctioneer and buyer to negotiate until it sold.
Jason Song, of Ray White Rochedale, said the price was lower than he had hoped, but remained a strong result for the suburb.
“Everything has slowed a lot. Since the budget, buyers have been consumed with what will happen,” he said.
“I think the market is trying to find a balance … I’ve noticed prices have dropped by maybe a few percentage points.”
Despite market challenges, Song said upsizer and downsizer appetite remained, and the buyer had chosen Parkinson because of its school catchment.
In Fortitude Valley, a two-bedroom unit sold to an investor for $880,000 – delivering the vendor a $220,000 profit in two years.
The tidy 2015 apartment at 806/959 Ann Street features two bathrooms, one car space and 86 square metres of living space. It last sold in 2024 for $660,000.
Despite widespread fears of plummeting investor activity following the federal budget, selling agent Mary Buchan, of Place Kangaroo Point, said the unit attracted interest from an even split of owner-occupiers and investors.
Come auction day, the investor was the sole bidder. Buchan said the last sale in the building in October was $890,000, representing about a 1 per cent drop.
“The vendors were still excited to see that result. Compared to what they purchased it for, they’ve had fantastic capital growth,” she said.
Buchan said she had not seen evidence that investors had left the market, but they were perhaps more pessimistic than before.
“A lot who come into the city are local investors looking for something they can use themselves as well,” she said.
“I think it’s still one of the best choices for them because there’s so much happening in inner-city Brisbane that will transform it over the next 10 years.
“And they are in it for the long haul. But to make it work [in the interim] it’s got to look like a short-term rental or Airbnb to have a positive return.”
LJ Hooker head of research Matthew Tiller said Brisbane’s low weekly clearance rate nevertheless revealed market uncertainty.
“New listings have risen, but a lot of those have been withdrawn,” he said.
“What we are seeing from homeowners looking to sell is they are getting to the end of the four-week sale process and if they aren’t getting the price they’re hoping to achieve they’re withdrawing.
“Cotality numbers from last week showed Brisbane still saw growth over the past month.
“And there are definitely still buyers in the market and sales happening – but it’s typically from homeowners adjusting their prices to meet the market.”
