The three-bedroom home at 13 Orchid Street, Enoggera, sits on an 810-square-metre block in a tightly held pocket close to schools and parks. Four bidders registered for the auction, which opened at $1.85 million, and three competed as the price climbed in $20,000 and then $10,000 increments before a buyer from regional Queensland prevailed.
The home had been held by one family for decades. Selling agent Andrew Degn of Place West said the parents had passed away and left the property to their children, and there were tears as well as cheers when the hammer fell.
"We tried to push him to pay $2 million, but he said he didn't want to bid against himself," Degn said. "Then when the hammer fell the crowd roared and clapped. The whole street was there. Still, we were very happy with the result. It sold very comfortably over the reserve, it really was a once-in-a-lifetime buy."
The result stood out against a difficult week. Of 161 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 18 per cent from 100 reported results by Saturday evening, with 17 homes withdrawn.
At 8 Westgate Avenue, Springwood, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a pool on a 708-square-metre block sold for $1.09 million, just shy of its $1.1 million reserve. A phone bidder opened at $850,000, and after a flurry of $50,000 and then $25,000 rises, bidding slowed to $10,000 increments.
Agent Johnson Teo of Ray White Springwood said he consulted the auctioneer and sellers before accepting the near-reserve price. "In this market, this result was gold," he said. The buyers, a family with young teenagers, were drawn by the pool, while the vendors planned to upsize in another suburb.
Teo said median prices in Springwood had fallen by about 15 per cent, mirroring the broader market. "Some economists are saying it's the worst drop in 40 years, but we're not at the point of distressed listings yet," he said.
At Camp Hill, a four-bedroom home on a 1014-square-metre battle-axe block at 98 Perth Street sold for $1.625 million after a brief two-way contest. Shane Hicks of Place Camp Hill said about 30 groups had inspected the property over four weekends, mostly families.
"A year ago there would have been investors and builders, too, and we would have had eight to 10 bidders," he said. "Around 41 per cent of the mortgages out there are investors and to turn off that tap is a big sledgehammer."
Hicks said prices were unlikely to rise until "we have a change of government". AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Brisbane sat at the bottom of the capital-city pack for clearance rates. "The only thing preventing even lower (clearance rates) is listings remain lower than they were a year ago," he said. "But if the economy continues to slow we'll see a rise in unemployment."