Family bags trophy home for $3,888,888 the night before auction

A two-bedroom cottage rocking shagpile carpet chic and ’70s time-warp vibes sold for $1.115 million at a fiery auction in Albion on Saturday – proving one owner’s trash can be another investor’s treasure.

The retro relic, at 31 Lucy Street, had remained in the same family for 60 years but the decades didn’t inspire a flicker of sentimentality for the vendors.

“The wife hated the property,” selling agent Ashley Robinson of Ray White said.

“She wanted to get rid of it ever since they bought it, so it wasn’t an emotional one for her at all.”

The crumbling cottage is one of a handful of original cottages left in the suburb and one of just six properties to sell in the street in the past decade. It sits on a 529 square metre block that’s 200 metres from Fonzie Abbott cafe, Hoppers Brewing and Crosby Park.

Robinson said nine registered bidders, of which five were active, battled for the keys.

The cottage is one of a handful of original cottages left in Albion.Credit: Domain

Bidding opened at $1.05 million, climbing in $5000 and $1000 leaps until it hit the $1.1 million reserve. By then, two punters had bowed out. An investor, bidding via a friend onsite while overseas, ultimately won for his family trust.

The home was one of 193 scheduled auctions in Brisbane over the past week.

By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 38 per cent from 116 reported results, while 15 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

In Indooroopilly, a trophy home with a $1.2 million renovation sold for $3,888,888 on Friday in a pre-auction deal the night before it was due to go under hammer.

A family from China snapped up the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 29 Glencairn Avenue – paying a premium to be close to St Peters Lutheran College and for a price steeped in good fortune.

It was the highest auction result across the south-east in the past week, showcasing the strength of Brisbane’s firing prestige market.

Selling agent Matt O’Neill, of Place Estate Agents, said the vendors – a Singapore-based family – had purchased the home over the phone in 2021 for $2.3 million.

“They planned to stay there long term, but life happened and they decided to put it on the market,” he said. “That’s why the quality of the renovation was so high.”

A family paid a premium to be close to St Peters Lutheran College.Credit: Domain

The home, on a 921 square metre block in the suburb’s “golden triangle”, features polished concrete floors, a wine cellar, a three-car garage, and a layout primed for multi-generational living.

O’Neill said those features and the location proved to be a magnet, with 92 groups inspecting the home.

“About 80 per cent of them were Chinese and that’s because it’s close to St Peters, which has a co-curriculum [offering the International Baccalaureate diploma program]. But it’s also in Indooroopilly’s best street.”

O’Neill said the owners had hoped to fetch $3.9 million, but price feedback from potential bidders in the lead-up was hovering at $3.5 million.

“We got pretty close to what the owners wanted and it was a great result. For us, the prestige market is performing better than the lower-end market right now, particularly for homes between $2.5 million to $3 million onwards.

“There seems to be a lot of demand for that market – particularly among Chinese buyers. If I had another 10 of those homes I would have sold them overnight.”

In Acacia Ridge, an investor from Tarragindi outmuscled six other bidders for a renovated three-bedroom home on a 607 square metre block – paying a record-breaking $890,000.

The property, at 33 Highbury Street, had a reserve of $850,000 and last sold in 2017 for $325,000.

Selling agent Bevin Powell, of Ray White, said the vendor was a carpenter who had turned the postwar home into a modern property with a landscaped yard, hardwood floors, a deck and a covered entertainment area with a firepit.

“This is a record price for a three-bedroom house in Acacia Ridge. The suburb has seen a lot of price growth over the past year and it’s an up-and-coming area.”

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the Queensland capital’s market remained strong, even if bidding numbers had dropped.

“It’s still up compared to last year and while things seem to be slowing, price growth is strong. We’re just not seeing the same heat,” she said.

The vendor was a carpenter who had turned the postwar home at 33 Highbury Street into a modern property.Credit: Domain

“There are still good sales taking place and our clearance rate is currently 65 per cent – this time last year it was in the high 50s. But there are more listings now and that seems to be softening things and creating a two-speed market.”

Conisbee said the rising listing numbers were likely fuelled by mortgage strain and strong selling conditions.

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