Luxury properties fail to sell at auction

ELEVEN luxury homes, a room full of buyers, and a buzz that the market has improved - so how many high-end properties sold?

DEMAND for luxury property may not be coming back as quickly as some predict, with not one home sold under the hammer at one of the country's biggest high-end property auctions.

Top end buyers filled the auction room in the opulent Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast but not one of the 11 properties on offer found a new owner.

In a move indicative of Queensland's still struggling luxury property sector, buyers remained cautious with two homes passed in with no bids and an apartment at Jade withdrawn just hours out from the Ray White Surfers Paradise Prestige Event.

Despite the result Ray White Surfers Paradise CEO Andrew Bell said negotiations would continue in coming days and at least three of the homes were close to a signed deal.

These included a 1013sq m block of waterfront land in Paradise Waters, a Main Beach penthouse at Beachside Tower and a Modena on Chevron sky home in Surfers Paradise.

He put the lack of sales under the hammer down to a growing belief among sellers that the market had significantly improved when in reality the prestige sector was still on the road to recovery.

"Sellers are hearing the market is jumping and they think it's as strong as Sydney," he said.

"But I would say the land on Admiralty Drive is very close (to selling) as well as the penthouse on Main Beach Tower and Modena."

There were 32 bidders on the night of which a majority were from the Gold Coast.

Mr Bell said the penthouses in particular attracted interstate buyers, with the Beachside Tower home kicking off the auction before bids stalled.

The Paradise Waters block quickly followed before fizzing out at $2.77 million. It last sold for $2.8 million in September 2009.

A Sanctuary Cove property, at 6266 Broken Hills Drive, stalled at $2.2 million, making way for a Versace condo which passed in at $1.22 million.

The opulent Pintari penthouse then passed in at $4.9 million and a Sanctuary Cove home, at 7309 Bayside Close, was put on hold at $5.7 million. It last sold for $7.22 million in June 2010.

Wrapping up the penthouses was the Modena on Chevron abode, which stalled at $1.7 million, despite selling for $1.67 million in July 2013.

Another Sanctuary Cove home at 1028 Edgecliff Drive passed in at $3.75 million, before a sprawling old homestead at Guanaba and a large property at 54 Commodore Drive Surfers Paradise were passed in with no bids.

Mr Bell said so far the agency's top sale for the year was an apartment at Soul, which sold three nights ago for $3.5 million. The Ray White Surfers Paradise group has racked up 130 sales since the start of January with the low end sector continuing to churn the fastest for the region.