60 bidders, 1 auction: Qld’s best suburbs for selling a home
A pause in rate hikes and a boost in seller confidence has fuelled an early start to Queensland’s spring selling season. Find out where the best auction markets are.
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A PAUSE in interest rate hikes and a boost in seller confidence has fuelled an early start to Queensland’s spring selling season, with higher auction numbers and more bidders competing for properties.
More than 290 homes are scheduled for auction across the state next week — 11 per cent more than last year, while Brisbane has double the number of homes going under the hammer compared to the same week a year ago.
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New data reveals the best markets for selling at auction this spring, based on average bidder numbers, are Upper Mount Gravatt in Brisbane, Chevron Island on the Gold Coast, and Port Douglas in Cairns.
According to Ray White data, bidder numbers at auctions across Brisbane have increased markedly compared to a year ago — and more noticably than in Sydney or Melbourne.
The average number of active bidders at auction in Brisbane has risen to 3.1 from 2.3 a year ago, and it has maintained an average of three bidders for the past four months in a row.
The average number of registered bidders has also increased, while Brisbane homes taken to auction are selling for almost 9 per cent more on average than the previous highest offer.
Ray White data analyst William Clark said the data suggested it was going to be a competitive auction season, with evidence vendors were already coming to market earlier than previous spring selling seasons.
“It does hint auction season’s coming early,” Mr Clark said. “There’s been a couple of months of really strong price growth and I also think there’s a feeling, perhaps, that interest rates are close to their peak, so things are going to start stabilising and people can start planning out big moves.
“Consecutive rises in interest rates slowed down activity and created a lot of uncertainty, but it looks like the easing off may have had a rubber band effect.”
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said she had also noticed an uptick in selling activity ahead of spring, which was good news for buyers.
“Not only is this providing buyers more choice, but it could also cool price growth, which has been driven in large part this year by buyer demand exceeding the supply of properties for sale,” Ms Flaherty said.
The most popular suburb for auctions in Brisbane over the past year was Upper Mount Gravatt, which averaged 11 registered bidders per auction and held 22 auctions, according to the Ray White research.
It was followed by the neighbouring outer suburbs of Springwood, Calamvale, and Slacks Creek in Brisbane’s south.
“It’s strange some of these suburbs are getting such strong activity,” Mr Clark said. “It’s almost fever pitch.
“It’s fantastic to be able to get a good, solid lot size at an affordable price.
“There may also be a fear of missing out. Perhaps there hasn’t been a lot of new stock in a while in some of those markets, so there could be bidding over fewer available options.”
Ray White Mount Gravatt principal and auctioneer Grant Boman recently held an auction in the area that attracted 60 registered bidders.
“When I started my career, this certainly wasn’t an auction area,” Mr Boman said.
“We feel it gives owners the best opportunity, particularly when there is a shorgage of supply in the market. It’s a huge focus of ours to make sure we’ve got strong bidders registered.”
Mr Boman said young families and investors were attracted to the area because of its accessibility, quality schools, amenities, and relative affordability.
He said many buyers were drawn to the area to be in the catchment of Mansfield State High School, where he was holding an auction on September 21 to raise money for the school’s extracurricular program.
“I think we’ll see a lot more supply this spring than there has been all year, but less supply than last year. I tend to think prices should be relatively robust, particularly for move-in-ready properties.”
On the Gold Coast, the top suburbs for auction based on bidder numbers in the past year were Chevron Island, Coomera, Tugun, Miami, and Broadbeach.
The average number of active bidders at an auction on the Gold Coast is the highest it has been since September 2021, which could be a good sign heading into spring.
Next week, Ormeau has the most homes going to auction at 25, followed by Broadbeach with 24.
“The Goldy was pretty strong last year, but it’s looking even better this year,” Mr Clark said.
“To see four active bidders on average suggests some pretty serious price growth is likely going to come as a result. Demand is really strong there.”
The appetite for buying at auction in Queensland was cemented in July when the state’s auction sale record was shattered by a Gold Coast mansion selling under the hammer for an eyewatering $24m.
Apollo Auction’s auctioneer Rob Doorey, who hosted the record-breaking auction of 59 The Corso, Isle of Capri, said the result had “changed the auction narrative” in the state.
“There has been a bit of a furphy here in Queensland that you usually don’t auction
this type of property, or in this location, because of the chance it might not attract
many bidders,” Mr Doorey said.
“Before the auction, it was probably apparent that the market price of this property
was north of $20m. So, how many people would you think would actually be in the position to buy cash unconditionally at that level? Well, believe it or not, we had 10 registered bidders
with most of them being current or former locals.”
In the state’s north, Cairns’ auction market is also surprisingly strong, with an average of four registered bidders per auction.
Port Douglas had the highest average bidder numbers from a whopping 34 auctions in the past year.
In Townsville, the suburbs of North Ward and Hermit Park were most popular with buyers.
“It’s really good to see in smaller places like Cairns and Townsville that active bidders are rising,” Mr Clark said.
According to PropTrack figures, Townsville has 15 auctions scheduled for next week, compared to only 1 a year ago.
Originally published as 60 bidders, 1 auction: Qld’s best suburbs for selling a home
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