BRISBANE’S auction hot spots are no longer the traditional blue-chip suburbs, with areas nearby attracting some big bucks on the bid.
And the latest CoreLogic data found that Brisbane houses changing hands through auctions went for more than $230,000 on average above the average result for homes sold by private treaty.
It found just over half of the homes taken to auction sold under the hammer, with the average Brisbane price tag at $730,000.
The city’s auction hot spots were Paddington, Bardon, Sunnybank Hills, Ashgrove, Sunnybank, Eight Mile Plains, Coorparoo, Camp Hill, Calamvale and Clayfield.
CoreLogic figures showed Coorparoo, Paddington and Sunnybank were seeing the highest level of Brisbane auction clearances this year,
“Every capital has recorded a higher clearance rate compared with last year,” CoreLogic researcher Cameron Kusher said.
“There were 190 Brisbane homes taken to auction (last week), with 114 results reported,” he said.
“The preliminary clearance rate for the city is 53.5 per cent, up from 45.2 per cent (the previous week) and also higher than a year ago.”
He said the Gold Coast was also seeing a strong clearance rate of 64 per cent.
The rise in auction demand was driving a new generation of auctioneers to the gavel, including Place Ascot’s Tara Kelly, who said that the Brisbane property market had turned the corner.
“The Brisbane market’s acceptance of auctions has certainly grown and matured over the years,” Ms Kelly said.
“However, there are still some buyers and sellers who are new to the process and that’s where good agents and good auctioneers can play a critical part.”
Brisbane auctioneer Haesley Cush of Ray White New Farm said suburbs where auctions had become more popular were also those whose median prices were above the Brisbane average.
“If you look at those top auction suburbs. they are suburbs that sit just above the median price of the city. We’re probably not seeing first home buyers participating as much as second and third homebuyers who are confident with their pricing and not relying on vendor’s expectations to set pricing.
“Areas like Eight Mile Plains, Sunnybank, are where you have that large Chinese community who are comfortable with that type of sale and we’ve also seen evidence of that in Melbourne with their level of pricing with that international community.”
He said Brisbane residents were “just starting to get comfortable” with auctions.
“A buyer only needs to have been in one competing offer situation in a private treaty negotiation to realise that you’d rather be competing with another buyer in an open auction than behind closed doors. When putting an offer on something, you’re flying blind in private treaty.”
Originally Published: http://www.couriermail.com.au/