Premium prices entice long-term owners to list By Michael Kollosche The Gold Coast is in the midst of the most exciting property market this city has seen in well over a decade. While demand continues to outstrip supply, more vendors are venturing out to test the waters buoyed by the promise of prices they may never see again in their lifetime. Some of the city’s best real estate has come to market for the first time in decades - and it could be many more years before some of these tightlyheld properties host a For Sale sign again. A prime hilltop holding in Burleigh Heads changed hands last month after 32 years. The modest 3-bedder at 99 George Street West was treasured by three generations of the one family, whose $360,000 investment in 1989 attracted a winning $4,600,000 bid in 2021. Offered for the first time in 21 years, a much-loved family home at 11 Petrel Avenue, Mermaid Beach was snapped up for $1,950,000 ahead of the scheduled February 28 auction. Purchased for $385,000 in 2000, that sale has set the sellers up for a happy caravaning adventure around Australia in the months to come. The same buyer also secured 9 Petrel Avenue - last sold in 1998 - in an off-market transaction also worth $1,950,000 to create a combined holding of 810m2 within 270 metres of the beach.
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On a Friday afternoon, the owners of a four-bedroom house on 1455m2 of main river land at 40 Kawana Crescent, Ashmore agreed to list their home of 25 years. By the Monday, a $1,900,000 contract had been signed off-market - more than tripling their 1996 investment of $525,000. Anticipation is now building around a fresh cluster of prime properties that are unlikely to have surfaced in ordinary times. The Waratah penthouse in Main Beach has been home away from home for the Melbourne-based Smorgon family for 20 years. Interest was buzzing ahead of the February 21 auction when six bidders registered for a tilt at the 758m2 residence with a rooftop pool. Post-auction negotiations were ongoing at the time of publication. The owners of the sub-penthouse at exclusive Madison Point are holding up the keys to their slice of Main Beach paradise after 20 years, listing with an asking price of $3,550,000. Every room in this immaculate residence boasts a view that can never be built out - a rare claim on today’s market. Former V8 Supercar driver Paul Weel and wife Emma have listed their dazzling main river residence at 14 Maryland Avenue, Carrara. Designed by Bayden Goddard and set on over an acre of main river land within 15 minutes of the beach, it’s unusual to see an as-new prestige estate of this calibre come to market.
