Ray White Surfers Paradise auction clears 25 of 26 properties under the hammer as market roars on

Auctions have hit supersonic gear on the Gold Coast, with one multi-property sell-off reaching a 100 per cent clearance rate this week. SEE WHAT SOLD>>>

42/12 Handel Ave, Worongary sold at auction for $3.01m by Ray White agent Josh Thomas

AUCTIONS have hit supersonic gear on the Gold Coast, with one multi-property sell-off reaching a 100 per cent clearance rate this week.

Ray White Surfers Paradise chief executive officer Andrew Bell said all 26 properties put to the group’s auction on Thursday had been sold – 25 under the hammer – a record for the national group.

“We all know the real estate market’s going well but whoever thought that the Gold Coast would set a national record?” he said.

“Twenty-six properties went to auction and we have now sold all of them and it’s just extraordinary.”

The group has held 84 auctions in the past four weeks, with 93 per cent of the properties sold.

42/12 Handel Ave, Worongary sold at auction for $3.01m by Ray White agent Josh Thomas

Mr Bell, who has auctioned more than 18,000 properties in the past four decades, said the situation was unprecedented.

“The energy in the room, the theatre of it all, is a standout in my career,” he said of Thursday’s auction.

“There was humour, goodwill – it was a really positive environment at a time when, let’s face it, every time you turn on the TV it’s not good news.

“The only auction that compares, for me, was one in 1987 after the stockmarket crash, when we put up 34 properties and sold 32.

“But to sell 25 or 26 properties under the hammer was the highest success rate.

“These are just incredible levels – even in Sydney and Melbourne when they’re prime if they can sell 75-80 per cent it’s a great market.”

Not only are the properties selling, they are continuing to exceed price expectations of even the most ambitious sellers, Mr Bell says.

“The only ones that don’t sell is where sellers’ expectations are too far ahead of the current market values.

“When you see figures like this it means the buyers are even meeting those people’s expectations.

“One commercial property started bidding around $700,000 and finished at $2.03m.

“It went for $703,000 over reserve. There were 144 bidders.”

Mr Bell said agents had mastered the art of remote selling, with video inspections and online auctions being perfected in the past year.

He said around 50 per cent of the current market were interstate buyers, who had a more enthusiastic approach than locals upgrading or downsizing.

“The interstaters, they just want to get out of there, and they still see the Gold Coast as representing good value.

“Unfortunately with the lockdowns, some of them are people who have lost their jobs or closed down businesses and they want a new start.

Andrew Bell.

“There are other high-wealth people who decide they just don’t want to live like this (in lockdown) anymore.

“I think it bodes well for the Gold Coast, it says that we have a rock solid market.

“Every market has a beginning and an end, and no-one knows when this ceases to be as strong as it is.”

Follow @Kathleenskene

Originally published as Ray White Surfers Paradise auction clears 25 of 26 properties under the hammer as market roars on