BRISBANE

JOEL ROBINSON

Sun shines on luxury

The Queensland capital’s prestige property market is booming, with architectural flair and river frontage highly prized

Far left: Garfield Drive in Paddington has been reconfigured for modern living Centre: The towering Markwell Street home in Hamilton Left: The renovated Norman Park Queenslander on Power Street

TThe Brisbane prestige property market has rolled into 2021, quickly picking up where it finished last year.

Place agent Heath Williams says there are more buyers currently than there is stock, which is making pricing in the highend market competitive.

“The tides have turned,” he says. “However, Brisbane’s prestige market still represents value in comparison to its southern counterparts.”

Williams says there has been an upswing towards architecturally designed homes. “There’s a movement away from the nostalgia of the classic Queenslander. People want the latest technology and trends within the home.”

Brisbane Broncos chairman Karl Morris recently emerged as the buyer of one of the Queensland capital’s most high-tech houses, on the Kangaroo Point clifftop.

The sprawling Leopard Street home sold for a Brisbane record $18.488 million in late 2016, bought by Chinese interests with Australian residency from Angelo and Sandra Russo, the names behind City Motor Auction Group.

With settlement yet to take place, Morris is tipped to have paid closer to $16 million for the 1445sq m, three-level home complete with six bedrooms, private home office with boardroom, cinema, wine cellar with tasting room, gym with steam room and cliffside infinity pool.

In a sign there is an emerging depth to the buying pool, Williams also secured the on-sale of Balaam, the former Brisbane record holder. The luxury Hamilton riverfront on the Harbour Road dress circle was designed by architect Shaun Lockyer for property developer Don O’Rorke.

“Balaam had sold with another agent for $9 million and in the space of just a few hours I struck a deal for $9.5 million to a local buyer,” Williams says. Balaam is the fourth sale above $5 million in Brisbane this year. “We are seeing 80 per cent local buyers and 20 per cent interstate and overseas interested in Brisbane’s prestige market,” he says.

Sales activity on the Brisbane River declined, however, over 2020. The total value of absolute riverfront house sales was just shy of $133 million, down from the $155 million secured over the previous year’s total, according to the 27th riverfront report by Johnston Dixon.

The agency’s latest On The River report found an average sale price of $3.69 million compared to last year’s $3.787 million, with turnover 10 per cent lower. Josephine Johnston-Rowell says the fact that the average riverfront house price remained relatively static at that high level despite COVID-19 was a testament to its rarity and unique appeal.

Brisbane’s premium prestige market is characterised by sales in excess of $5 million, according to Herron Todd White Brisbane valuer David Notley. He says the premium market is generally within 6km of the CBD, including riverfront and non-riverfront properties.

Brisbane recorded 22 house sales in excess of $5 million last year, which Notley says surpassed previous years.

To date this year there have been four over $5 million.

Ray White New Farm agent Matt Lancashire, who sold the house that set the 2016 record, says the huge demand will only grow as the year goes on.

He puts it down to low interest rates, houses being more price appropriate in comparison to those in the southern states, and Queensland being one of the most liveable states in Australia.

Lancashire expects an influx of southerners will relocate to Brisbane in the next 12 months.

There have been two big-ticket sales in Paddington, with the suburb record smashed twice in a month. First a Fernberg Road home in need of a renovation broke the record when it sold for $7.75 million. That was topped less than a month later by the Paddington home of surfer and developer Paul Gedoun. His home sold within 24 hours of going online for $8 million. Lancashire received more than 100 inquiries in that time.

“The current lack of stock, coupled with increasing buyer demand, means days on market are continuing to decrease, and properties are being snapped up for record prices quicker than ever before,” Lancashire says.

He secured a suburb record of more than $11.8 million for Hamilton Hill House in Hamilton. The new Shaun Lockyerdesigned home, bought by a local family who were upgrading, has more than 1000sq m of living space including a gym, wine cellar and cinema. Outside there’s a heated lap pool and a pizza oven on the entertaining terrace.

Demand has been so high in recent months that houses close to completion are being put on the market.

Lancashire has a Bulimba property listed that isn’t ready for occupation until July. Shaun Lockyer has designed the fivebedroom home, which is being built by Black Developments.

Another example is the sale late last year of NOIR, where the paint had barely dried on the luxury Hamilton home before an expat paid $9.442 million for it.

In Paddington, an original Queenslander-style house gutted by DAH Architecture, only retaining its classic facade, original floorboards, windows and doors, has found a buyer. The interior of the 1900s home on Garfield Road had been reconfigured for modern day living, with every room boasting views to Mt CootTha.

Set on 580sq m, Douglas Construction and Development created the new home using concrete, timber and glass blended with natural materials, including raw exposed brick. The main entertaining area is on the lower level, connecting to an outdoor pavilion and swimming pool. A glass-encased staircase leads to the upper-level bedroom wing where there are four bedrooms, separate living area, original sunroom and a study.

Ray White New Farm agent Christine Rudolph sold the home pre-auction for $2.8 million late last month with strong local interest.

There has also been strong interest from expats keen to return home. Last month a Norman Park home was bought by a family who have been overseas for a decade. Place Bulimba agent Sarah Hackett secured the sale of the four-bedroom renovated 1900s Queenslander after “multiple offers”.

Heath Williams is selling a Hamilton home recently refreshed by Wyer + Craw. Set behind a heritage-inspired facade, the threelevel home on 900sq m of manicured gardens features a stone fireplace, lofty coffered ceilings, ornate cornices and a timber staircase. It includes four bedrooms, a home office and a rumpus room. In the grounds is a terrace with a barbecue area and swimming pool, complete with water feature.

Williams is asking for offers above $4 million.