There were huge numbers of buyers on the Gold Coast this past weekend for Ray White’s annual auction day, The Event, highlighting the strong demand for Queensland property.
On Sunday, 115 properties went under the hammer at the Royal Pines Resort, with more than 80 per cent selling and more likely to be sold over the coming days – well above last year.
Ray White Surfers Paradise Chief Executive Andrew Bell said this year’s event was a huge success and showed just how strong buyer interest is on the Gold Coast.
“From my perspective, if it wasn’t the best yet, I would really struggle to think what was better,” Mr Bell said.
“The Event just grows every single year, but this was the one I was most proud of.”
Mr Bell said the standard of properties going to auction was incredibly high, with more than three-quarters of properties sold at the auction event priced at more than $1 million.
He said the largest sale was a four-bedroom, waterfront apartment, on Main Beach, which sold for $6.35 million and attracted six bidders.
“The Event is attracting better quality properties every year,” he said.
“There were over 2000 people that attended, with over 519,000 viewings and huge numbers of inspections.
“And then, just as strong, was the active bidding on the day.
“We’ve got 87 sales worth just on $90.6 million but I think we will end up surpassing $100 million before the end of January.”
Mr Bell said January auctions were typically dominated by interstate holidaymakers, but this year locals were out in force.
He said there was also a large number of bidders who were active over the phone.
“I would think at least 50 per cent of our sales yesterday were to interstate buyers and some overseas parties,” he said.
“A lot of the buyers were Australians living overseas, who are eventually looking to move back to Australia, but decided to buy now.”
According to Mr Bell, the strong result s a testament to the strong interest in the Gold Coast.
He said ever since the announcement of the Commonwealth Games, and then the influx of people during COVID-19, the Gold Coast had established itself as one of the most in-demand locations in the country.
“We’ve got a really strong base here now, our economy is doing well here, and this is just another vote of confidence in South East Queensland, and in particular, for the Gold Coast,” he said.
Ahead of The Event buyers had already been active across QLD in January.
Sales agent from Ray White Mitchelton, Rochelle Adgo, sold almost $20 million worth of property with an impressive 60 per cent clearance rate during her Super Auction Week.
The three-day auction event was attended by more than 320 market watchers, with more than 80 registered bidders adding to the atmosphere.
Ms Adgo booked the 30 auctions, with more than 1250 groups of people through all of the open homes.
“It’s been an outstanding week,” Ms Adgo said.
“There is nothing more exciting than the energy at an auction.
“Demand for Brisbane property has never been higher.”
Last year, Ms Adgo had 22 properties for sale and grew that to 30 this year.
“I curated a diverse range of properties to cater to every buyer and budget,” she said.
“We saw a significant presence of first home buyers, downsizers, investors, upsizers, and individuals relocating from interstate.”
