Thirty six bidders break records at auction event before big election

More than $4 million worth of apartment units were sold shortly before a big election, with a turnout that shocked the organisers.

36 registered bidders stunned auctioneers and agents by buying more than $4 million in apartments at an evening auction event they expected to have a relatively low turnout.

Ray White’s The Collective hosted their latest event at their New Farm offices on Thursday night, selling six units in the area with one sold prior.

When young buyers arrived, each auction had anywhere from four to 15 registered bidders attending, with prices skyrocketing above the reserves.

The apartment at 136/7 Boyd St, Bowen Hills, broke a record for the highest-selling one-bedroom unit in the suburb.

A crowd of more than 50 people watched the event, where each apartment sold only had one to two bedrooms each.

Even the smallest sale, a one-bedroom apartment in Spring Hill, had six registered bidders and sold for $520,000.

Meanwhile, Bowen Hills had a record-breaking sale that night. 136/7 Boyd St had four registered bidders going head-to-head for it, and sold for $635,000: the largest sale for a one-bedroom apartment in the suburb.

The largest sale over the evening was 2/22 Arthur St, Fortitude Valley: a two-bedroom unit with 15 registered bidders, blasting $200,000 over the reserve price and selling for $1,215,000. The sale was a record for the apartment building.

Ray White auctioneer Haesley Cush said he was stunned at the evening’s turnout.

Dozens of registered bidders turned up to compete for the apartments, with even more standing by to watch the auction.

Overall, the six properties all sold for a total of $4,698,000.

Ray White New Farm’s Simon Petrie said the company was expecting to see “A wave of new buyers entering the market potentially before Christmas”.

“The new wave of buyers is arriving, proving that the Brisbane property market shows no signs of slowing down,” he said.

Loan market broker Paul Hixon said October saw him issuing the most pre-approvals for buyers in his entire career within a single month.

The biggest sale of the evening was 2/22 Arthur St, Fortitude Valley, which broke a record for sales in the apartment building.

Ray White auctioneer Haesley Cush said he was astounded to see how popular the market has been this week, with momentum continuing into the auction weekend.

“It’s the most unaffected I’ve ever seen the Brisbane property market during an election, and I think that’s because there’s so much confidence in Brisbane at the moments that buyers are undeterred,” he said.

“Extraordinary … it was only 5 years ago that you’d get less than 5 people through the campaign, let alone 11 people turn up to register to bid.”

Mr Cush said the market saw two of its strongest components show up in full force, that being 1-2 bedroom apartments and larger luxury homes.

He added Brisbane was seeing a greater influx of buyers with growing confidence in an interest rate reduction.

Originally published as Thirty six bidders break records at auction event before big election