May 25, 2026 — 11:33amA Highgate Hill family paid a reserve-smashing $2.595 million to end an 18-month property hunt on Saturday, in what was one of the standout sales from Brisbane’s weakest auction weekend in years.The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 9 Colton Street sits on a 541-square-metre block in a tightly held pocket near Boundary Street and the South Bank Parklands, while featuring an immaculate renovated interior wrapped in character charm.Four bidders – all local families – registered for the auction while three actively duked it out. The underbidder opened proceedings at $2.3 million, sparking a flurry of bids among the trio until the price reached $2.35 million and one bowed out.The home features an immaculately renovated interior wrapped in character charm.Domain“For the last $30,000 it was like watching a tennis match,” selling agent Luke Croft of Ray White South Brisbane said.He said the underbidder, a family with two boys at Brisbane State High School, had been looking for about eight months, and already owned a three-bedroom apartment in the area.“For the buyers it has been a very long road,” he added.“They moved to Highgate Hill from overseas 18 months ago and have been renting since then. He’s a doctor and he couldn’t be there in person so he was bidding on the phone, but he was just so rapt to get it. His aunty was there and she was crying because they had just been looking for so long.”Croft said the house sold well above reserve, delivering a $1 million profit to the vendors who paid $1.45 million in 2020.“We are finding the renovated stock and those family homes that people can move into are getting the standout results right now,” he said.“The numbers of people coming through open home inspections has dwindled … but I think the fact that you could move just straight in to this home was the big thing.”Croft said the vendors, who had upsized to a bigger home in the same suburb, were thrilled with the result. He said the federal budget had led to more cautious buyers with tighter purse strings, but good properties in top locations were still transacting well.The Highgate Hill home was one of 189 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 22 per cent from 127 reported results, with 20 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.In New Farm, a local man outbid three other couples to secure a striking family home metres from the riverfront after ditching plans to build an investment portfolio instead.The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 24 Turner Street sits on a 403-square-metre block and features a grand entry, limestone-covered alfresco area and pool. It last sold a decade ago for $2.05 million.Six registered bidders turned up on Saturday, with four actively competing after the auction opened at $3.4 million. At $4.4 million the home was called on the market, with two buyers left to battle it out in small rises until the hammer finally fell at $4.46 million.Selling agent Aaron Woolard, of Place New Farm, said the buyer had initially looked to build a property portfolio in the area, however following recent changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, he had instead decided to splash the cash on a principal residence.The underbidder, also a New Farm local, was looking to upgrade from an apartment.“The house generated heaps of interest throughout the campaign, and I think that’s because it was completely done and move in ready,” Woolard said.“Buyers also loved that it was in a top location and although there’s been a lot of chatter about changing markets, we still don’t have a lot of good quality houses.”On the other side of the river in Bulimba, a Melbourne investor was the sole bidder on a three-bedroom house – paying $1.83 million sight-unseen to get the keys.Set on a 670-square-metre block within a stone’s throw of Oxford Street and featuring a pool, shed, and large multipurpose room, the home was offloaded by another interstate investor, who paid $1.575 million just under three years ago. It’s since been rented out for $1,100 per week.A vendor bid of $1.75 million kickstarted the auction, sparking a long negotiation with the sole bidder, who attended virtually.Selling agent Carla Haddan, of Place Bulimba, said the auction became a tug of war of $1000 rises every time the home looked set to be passed in, but added the final price left both parties happy.“We lost our audience along the way … but we did have two other families who were present and if it had passed in they would have made offers subject to sale,” she said.“But our seller was happy to take a cash unconditional offer, and it was a good one. Plus they had felt what was happening in the market and they were sensible.”Haddan said the buyer plans to eventually move to Brisbane and wanted a foothold in a blue-chip pocket. While she was surprised an investor nabbed the keys amid the latest budget changes, Haddan said the home’s strong rental yield had been a major consideration.As for the vendors, she said they’d decided to liquidate ahead of the budget.LJ Hooker head of research Matt Tiller said buyers remained uncertain across the board, but said interest rates were fuelling that just as much as the latest property and tax concession changes.“We have had a few interest rate hikes now and that effect has started to come through,” he said.“The areas it’s hurting are the first home buyer and upgrader markets who have felt that financing impact and then of course there’s the investors.”Tiller said Brisbane’s rock-bottom clearance rate could prove an anomaly, with the market likely to slowly stabilise over the coming weeks as buyers reevaluated their finances.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. 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