From dream homes in glamorous locations to prime development sites owned by multi-millionaires — these are the most expensive homes sold in southeast Queensland in 2019.
FROM dream homes in glamorous locations to prime development sites owned by multi-millionaires — these are the most expensive homes sold in southeast Queensland in 2019.
Despite a tumultuous year for the housing market, plagued by the fallout from the banking Royal Commission and APRA’s tightening of lending guidelines, southeast Queensland’s prestige property market racked up some impressive home sales.
Using data from Realestate.com.au, CoreLogic and industry sources, The Courier-Mail has compiled a list of the top 20 reported home sales in 2019.
The biggest residential home sale in the southeast was the offmarket transaction of a riverfront property in Tennyson with a high profile owner.
1. 1 KING ARTHUR TCE, TENNYSON
Vendor: Karl Morris, Brisbane Broncos chairman
New owner: Canstuct International CEO Rory Murphy
Sale price: About $17m, pending settlement
Sold: October 2019
The riverfront mansion owned by the chairman of the Brisbane Broncos sold to another high-profile chief executive in October.
It’s understood Canstruct International CEO Rory Murphy paid about $17 million for the property at 1 King Arthur Tce, Tennyson.
Canstruct International, a construction and services company operated out of nearby Yeerongpilly, was awarded the lucrative contract by the Federal Government to run the immigration detention centre on Nauru.
The house sits on a whopping 4224sq m and has seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, garaging for six vehicles, a pool and a championship-size tennis court.
It also boasts possibly Brisbane’s biggest private pontoon at 50m, plus 98m of river frontage and unobstructed northern views up the Brisbane River to the Walter Taylor Bridge.
The property has just one neighbour, and is otherwise flanked by bushland, the Brisbane River and Oxley Creek, with parkland and golf course views.
Karl Morris and his wife, Louise, bought the property in 2008 for $6.8 million, public records show.
They then tore down the original home, rebuilding a Bayden Goddard-designed, Tuscan-style home in its place in 2010.
It was bought from former rich-lister and entrepreneur Ross Palmer, who had previously purchased the property from former mining executive Ian Howard-Smith and his wife Margaret in 1997.
While the exact purchase price is yet to be disclosed, the off-market sale represents the second-highest residential sale ever in Brisbane.
The deal settles this month.
It comes close to being the most expensive home ever sold in the city, but that title is still held by the clifftop mansion at 1 Leopard St, Kangaroo Point, which recently came back on the market.
It sold for $18.48 million in 2017.
2. 37-39 BRITTANIC CRES, SOVEREIGN ISLANDS
Vendor: Xin Chen
New owner: Ka Yee Choi
Sale price: $11 million
Sold: September 2019
A Sovereign Islands mansion sold for a whopping $11 million in September, making it the highest residential sale on the Gold Coast this year.
The sprawling residence at 37-39 Brittanic Crescent is in the affluent gated community within Paradise Point.
The deal was inked before the property even had a chance to hit the market.
Amir Prestige Property Agents’ Ivy Wu, who handled the sale with Isaac Kim, knew the buyers and that they would be interested in the property so she approached them before it was listed.
The residence is the epitome of opulence with soaring ceilings, feature lighting and luxury detailed finishes throughout.
It has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms while a ‘Gold Lounge’ cinema room, wet bar and outdoor entertainment pavilion with pool are among its highlights.
3. 67 & 69 HEDGES AVE, MERMAID BEACH
Vendor: Mitchell Services founder Peter Mitchell
New owner: Interstate buyer
Sale price: $10.3 million
Sold: December 2019
A beachfront double block on the Gold Coast’s so-called ‘millionaires’ row’ was a late addition to the list for 2019 — fetching a whopping $10.3 million earlier this month.
Drilling business veteran Peter Mitchell sold the neighbouring properties for almost double the price he paid.
Property records show Mr Mitchell paid $200,000 for No. 67 in 1981 and $5 million for No. 69 in 2005.
The land parcel, comprising 810 sqm, was one of the last remaining double blocks on the beachfront at Mermaid Beach.
It was offered for sale for the first time in nearly 40 years by the drilling tycoon.
Mr Mitchell also owns a mansion in the same street, which he bought for $17 million in 2009.
Surrounded by luxurious homes, the development site with 20m beach frontage was originally advertised for $10.5 million through marketing agent Tony Velissariou.
Two houses are currently on the block, but will likely be demolished to make way for the new owner’s dream home.
4. 6/55 HASTINGS ST, NOOSA HEADS
Vendor: Pamela Rose
New owner: Undisclosed
Sale price: $9 million-plus, pending settlement
Sold: November 2019
The highest price ever paid for an apartment in Noosa was achieved when a beachfront unit sold in November.
The property at 6/55 Hastings Street, which was sold by Tom Offermann Real Estate, was listed with a price guide of $11 million and is understood to have sold for more than $9 million in a cash unconditional deal.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment is literally footsteps from Noosa’s glamorous Main Beach and is the size of a penthouse at 250 sqm.
5. 95-99 MCCONNELL ST, BULIMBA
Vendor: Brisbane lawyer Bill Boyd
New owner: Undisclosed
Sale price: $8.4 million
Sold: September 2019
Brisbane achieved a new residential auction price record in September, with the sale of a stunning riverfront property for $8.4 million representing the highest price ever paid for a home under the hammer in the city.
Two local buyers battled it out for the five-bedroom European-style mansion at 95-99 McConnell Street, which was owned by local lawyer, Bill Boyd.
Place Bulimba agent Sarah Hackett, who marketed the showstopping residence, said there were three registered bidders at the auction, but ultimately it was a “two horse race”.
The property consists of a 1473 sqm north-facing, riverfront block over two titles, and a 32m river frontage.
Other features include a media room, a lounge room with a corner bar and commercial bar fridge, a concealed wine cellar, and two deep-water mooring pontoons.
6. 2/23 HASTINGS ST, NOOSA HEADS
Vendor: Nicole Marie Pty Ltd
New owner: LL Group Investment Pty Ltd
Sale price $8.25 million
Sold: July 2019
Another absolute beachfront apartment on Noosa’s popular Hastings Street was one of the biggest sales of 2019.
The unit at 2/23 Hastings Street has multi-million dollar views to go with its $8.25 million sale price.
Tom Offermann Real Estate also negotiated the sale of this apartment, which occupies an entire floor, spanning 227 sq m, with luxurious appointments, three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Noosa experienced Queensland’s highest price growth in the past year, with the median house price sitting at $730,000, according to CoreLogic.
7. 7/3533 MAIN BEACH PDE, MAIN BEACH
Vendor: Louis Zenonos
New owner: Gregory and Wendy Rix
Sale price: $8.25 million
Sold: February 2019
The skyhome topping Main Beach’s boutique ‘Sea’ building sold for $8.25 million earlier this year to Gold Coast developer Greg Rix.
Designed by acclaimed Gold Coast architect Bayden Goddard, the two-storey residence has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus a powder room.
Marble, limestone, travertine, timber and stone are featured throughout, while floor-to-ceiling windows frame uninterrupted ocean views.
Former owner Louis Zenonos developed the eight-storey building on Main Beach Parade.
He moved into the skyhome not long after construction.
Kollosche director Michael Kollosche negotiated the sale.
8. 60 SOPHIE AVE, BROADBEACH WATERS
Vendor: Michael Kazacos
New owner: Undisclosed
Sale price: $8.1 million
Sold: August 2019
A waterfront mega-mansion known as The Palms in Broadbeach Waters sold in August after languishing on the market for more than 500 days.
Kollosche director Michael Kollosche and agent Ryan Ward sold the sprawling property to a family within days of taking over the listing.
Property records show it had previously been on the market with another agency and had an $8.95 million asking price.
The palatial home has five bedrooms and six bathrooms spread over three levels.
Standout features include an Art Deco-inspired theatre with starlit ceiling, wine cellar, internal lift, eight-car underground garage and multiple terraces and balconies overlooking the manicured gardens, pool and Nerang River.
It was built by Dr Michael Kazacos over two years from 2008, but he has lived on the property since 1988, previously in another house that was built by a friend of his.
9. 22 ADMIRALTY DR, PARADISE WATERS
Vendor: Tony Burnett and Toni Ferguson
New owner: Richlister and former Darrell Lea owner Tony Quinn
Sale price: $7.975 million
Sold: March 2019
The man who brought Darrell Lea back from the brink got his chequebook out earlier this year to buy a waterfront, five-bedder on the Gold Coast for nearly $8 million.
Tony Quinn splashed some of his candy shop cash on the mansion at 22 Admiralty Drive, where there is plenty of room for his collection of Aston Martin cars in the six-car garage.
The lavish home also features a soundproofed cinema, 12m indoor pool, 24m serviced pontoon, library, boathouse, games room, entertaining terrace and two decks.
Kollosche director Michael Kollosche negotiated the sale of the home, which was formerly owned by pub prince Tony Burnett, whose TB’s Hotels business owns a number of pubs across Queensland.
The house was originally built for the Matsushita family of the Panasonic Electronics empire.
Mr Quinn and his estranged wife, Christina, bought the collapsed confectionary manufacturer eight years ago and sold the business to private equity for about $200 million last year.
10. 39 GRIFFITH ST, NEW FARM
Vendor: Allan and Glenice Mein
New owner: Ben Seymour
Sale price: $7.75 million
Sold: March 2019
When a multi-level home on the Brisbane River sold under the hammer in March for $7.75 million, it made headlines for breaking the Brisbane auction record.
But that was later eclipsed by the sale of 95-99 McConnell Street, Bulimba.
The New Farm property at 39 Griffith Street was bought by Ben Seymour, the grandson of Queensland rich-lister and developer Kevin Seymour.
The Seymour Group has since constructed a luxury development on the site called The Oxlade, in which one of the penthouses sold for $7 million this year — just missing out on making the top 10 list.
Marketing agent and Ray White New Farm principal Matt Lancashire said it was a “great sale for Brisbane and the prestige market and a good sign of things to come”.
Eight bidders registered for the auction, with four actively bidding.
The property’s medium density zoning attracted homeowners, investors and developers from Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Brisbane including the neighbouring Gambaro family.
Developers, Allan and Glenice Mein, raised their children and eight grandchildren at 39 Griffith St, with two families living with them at one time.