Queens Wharf Apartment Sells for $3.43m at Auction, Amid Market Uncertainty

A 'bold' three-bedroom apartment in Queensland's Diamond Residences has sold for $3.43 million under the hammer, making it one of the highest results in south-east Queensland last week. Perched on the 51st floor, the unit features 152 square metres of living space and offers panoramic views of the city.

The sale was a relief for the vendors, who first listed the home last year but withdrew it six months later after receiving few inquiries. Real estate agent Sam Henderson of Ray White Wilston landed the listing and launched a 'clinical' auction campaign that saw the home painstakingly styled and inspected multiple times over four weeks.

Henderson said the sale was a result of a well-executed campaign that appealed to local downsizers. 'We ended up with 16 inquiries and 11 inspection attendees, with a lot of them being local downsizers,' he explained. 'I had two offers on the property prior to the auction and three registered bidders, which led to a premium price.'

The auction opened at $1.5 million, with bidding escalating to $3.3 million before slowing down to $50,000 increments. In the end, one buyer outmuscled two others to secure the keys to the property.

Market analyst LJ Hooker's Matthew Tiller said the sale was a positive sign, but warned that low weekly clearance rates in Brisbane revealed market uncertainty. 'New listings have risen, but a lot of those have been withdrawn,' he explained. 'What we are seeing from homeowners looking to sell is they are getting to the end of the four-week sale process and if they aren't getting the price they're hoping to achieve they're withdrawing.'

In a separate auction, a brick lowset home in Parkinson sold to an interstate migrant for $1.485 million, outbidding two local buyers. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house features a self-contained studio and saltwater pool on a 705-square-metre block.

A two-bedroom unit in Fortitude Valley sold to an investor for $880,000, delivering the vendor a $220,000 profit in two years. The tidy 2015 apartment features two bathrooms, one car space, and 86 square metres of living space.