Hammer drops on $2.9 million 1930s Coorparoo house amid street party

An old-fashioned street party complete with sausage sizzles and ice cream set the stage for a fierce bidding war over a 1930s home in Coorparoo on Saturday, which sold for $2.935 million under the hammer.

In front of a crowd of almost 150 spectators, a young professional couple upgrading from Camp Hill outmuscled two other punters to end their year-long house hunt.

The five-bedroom residence, on a 1112-square-metre block at 25 Shire Street, features five bedrooms, four bathrooms, leadlight windows and a designer kitchen.

The home, known as Iona, last sold for $1.69 million in 2014.Credit: Place Estate Agents Camp Hill

While six registered bidders turned up for the auction, only three competed after the eventual buyers threw down a bold opening bid of $2.5 million.

“It was aggressive bidding right up to $2.8 million, then there was some jostling between the two highest bidders who went tit-for-tat until the hammer went down,” said selling agent Shane Hicks, of Place Estate Agents Camp Hill.

“Fifty per cent of the time the person who opens the bidding wins, and that was absolutely the case with this couple.”

The home, known as Iona, last sold for $1.69 million in 2014. Hicks, who also sold the home to the vendors 11 years ago, said the sale underscored Coorparoo’s ongoing demand.

“They had updated the home but that was it … Coorparoo has seen about 15 per cent growth year on year, and this auction shows the faith buyers are putting in this suburb,” he said.

“But while we have had a few years of double-digit growth, I do believe it has slowed.”

Hicks did not disclose the auction reserve but said the sale price was above expectation.

The home was one of 159 auctions scheduled in Brisbane over the past week.

Leadlight windows and five bedrooms are features of 25 Shire Street at Coorparoo.Credit: Place Estate Agents Camp Hill

By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 29 per cent from 111 reported results, while 24 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance.

Despite the soft clearance rates, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said their Brisbane agencies recorded a 63 per cent clearance rate at the weekend and an average of 3.5 active bidders per auction – up 2.5 per cent year-on-year.

“We saw a quite a slowdown late last year … the speed it went backwards was sudden. But what we have since seen is the homes that were taken to the market and pulled back off have been relisted and are now selling,” Conisbee said.

The designer kitchen at 25 Shire Street, Coorparoo.Credit: Place Estate Agents Camp Hill

“The interest rate cut is adding confidence … but it’s getting tougher for first home buyers and we haven’t seen a big slowdown in house price growth.”

In Norman Park, three young couples vied for an entry-level home, pushing the price to $1.47 million despite the property selling for $1.235 million just three years ago.

The three-bedroom house, at 352 Norman Avenue, was offloaded by an investor who had rented out the property for $850 a week since early 2023.

Bidding started at $1.1 million and climbed in $50,000 jumps until $1.4 million. By then, two were left standing – each throwing out $5000 and $10,000 bids until the hammer fell.

“The three bidders were all in their mid-20s to mid-30s, and they were all looking to buy their first house,” said selling agent Paula Pearce, of Place Estate Agents.

“Two came with their parents to make sure they didn’t get too carried away. But in the end, it was a professional couple who won it.

“They were just so happy to get it and when the hammer fell they looked at each other and it was so cute. I asked them, ‘What’s the first thing you’re going to do?’ And they said, ‘We’re off to Bunnings.’”

Pearce said the home’s affordable price point, it’s tidy three-bedroom design and spacious 549-square-metre block made it a magnet for entry-level house buyers. The home sold close to the reserve price.

Median house prices in Norman Park have risen 12.1 per cent over the past year to $1.57 million.

At the other end of the buyer spectrum, a four-bedroom home in Brisbane’s second-priciest suburb claimed the top auction result for the city on Saturday, selling for $4,011,000 to a local family – more than double what it last sold for, in 2014.

The postwar home sits on a 696 square metre lot at 31 Mayfield Street in Ascot and features a resort-style pool, a cellar with a glass wine display and a fireplace.

Three local punters raised their hands for the keys, with bidding kicking off at $3 million and rising in $100,000 increments until $3.7 million. It then became a two-horse race, with the eventual buyers living just one street over.

Selling agent Damon Warat, of Ray White Ascot, said while the home attracted interest from overseas, its location in one of the city’s most desirable pockets made it a magnet for local prestige buyers.

While he declined to disclose the reserve, he said the final result was very close.

“We sold this home to the vendors 10 years ago almost to the day for circa $2 million,” Warat said.

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