Couple drops $2.5m on home with pool for ‘big dog who likes swimming’
A pair of devoted dog parents have dropped $2.5 million on a Camp Hill home so their water-loving pooch can finally live its best splash-and-paddle life.
Perched on a 405-square-metre block at 13 Brisbane Avenue, the four-bedroom home comes with a designer kitchen and a resort-style saltwater pool with a waterfall that proved irresistible to the buyers and their large dog.
Having first seen the home 15 minutes before the auction, the pair opened bidding at $2.1 million, sparking a flurry of fast rises among three other active bidders until competition stalled at $2.4 million.
One brief chat between the buyer and seller later, and the hammer came down at $2.5 million – making it Brisbane’s highest recorded auction sale of the weekend.
“The buyers were living in an inner-city apartment with a big dog who likes swimming – and that was the main reason they loved this house,” said selling agent Shane Hicks from Place Camp Hill.
“But the home itself was also immaculately presented, and even though it’s only 11 years old the bathroom has been updated as well as the flooring, and it had new kitchen benches. You could walk in the door with nothing to do.”
Hicks said the vendors had partly used the home as an investment property and partly as a principal residence over the years, but were downsizing to a unit in Kangaroo Point.
The home was among 185 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 36 per cent from 120 reported results, with 24 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.
Across the river in Paddington, a rundown three-bedroom character home with an original kitchen, peeling paint and rust-coloured carpet sold for $2.6 million to a local family who had walked past it for years, quietly hoping it might one day hit the market.
Perched on a 546-square-metre elevated block at 55 Tooth Avenue, the timeworn cottage features a northern aspect and blue-chip position just off Latrobe Terrace – which proved irresistible to punters in a suburb where the median house price is almost $2 million.
Held by the same family for seven decades, the home still carries tongue-and-groove panelling, an enclosed veranda and a cast-iron fireplace.
Eight registered buyers battled it out for the keys, with bidding opening at $1.8 million before climbing steadily to $2.5 million, when it was called on the market.
Two buyers pushed it another $100,000 before the hammer fell in what selling agent Max Hadgelias, of Ray White Paddington, described as a fairytale ending for the long-time admirers.
“They’re thrilled. They have kept their eyes on this home for a very long time and they always said if it came up, they would buy it and renovate it,” he said.
In Toowong, a “good block of dirt” with an old postwar house ripe for detonating or renovating sold for $1.52 million to a local looking to build his dream home.
Set on a 943-square-metre block at 10 Paisley Street, the three-bedroom highset cottage had been rented out for the past 30 years and was appraised just three years ago at $850,000.
But while the home was described as “pretty average”, the battleaxe block proved to be a prize thanks to its dual street access in a quiet cul-de-sac five minutes from Brisbane Boys’ College.
Three registered bidders turned up, with two actively competing. Following an opening vendor bid of $1 million, just one live bid of $1.1 million was placed before negotiations pushed the price past the $1.5 million reserve.
Selling agent Bradley Butten, of Professionals Priority, said both bidders were owner-occupiers and were planning a knockdown rebuild. He said the price reflected just how sharply Toowong had moved.
“The market really kicked off in May this year after the election and that first interest rate drop, and house prices have probably risen $100,000 since,” he said.
“Everything is selling in five days. I think the $1.5 million reserve on this one was pretty ambitious, but the buyer was very happy as it’s a good block of dirt.”
AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said Brisbane’s soft clearance rate likely reflected the seasonal Christmas wind-down, though concerns about potential rate hikes may also be weighing on buyers.
“We haven’t seen any slowdown in prices, but of course we have heard of talks of interest rate rises in the new year and that could be putting on a damper on demand,” he said.
“But also the Brisbane market has basically boomed for the past three years and it’s one of the only cities that’s seen prices double in the past five years, so affordability is a problem.”
Hicks said overall the market had remained “fairly solid” heading into year’s end.
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