Family of ‘serial home builders’ sells architect-designed property for non-riverfront record

Just days after an interest rate hike and a $260 billion share market wipeout, a sprawling architect-designed home in a flood-free pocket of Kenmore has defied consumer jitters – selling for more than $4 million and setting a new local benchmark.

The sprawling family residence at 45 Scenic Road – set on a 2023-square-metre block with 798 square metres of single-level living – was the top sale across south-east Queensland this weekend after fetching $4.101 million under the hammer.

The result also ranks as the suburb’s third-highest sale and the highest ever achieved for a non-riverfront home.

In front of a crowd of about 200, six buyers fronted up for the keys, but only two local families actively bid. The underbidder – a young family – opened the auction at $3.65 million, triggering a flurry of $50,000 and then $25,000 bids before the price hit $4 million. Smaller increments followed until the hammer fell above the undisclosed reserve.

Built in 2023 in collaboration with Giova Fellows Quod Architecture, the home features landscaped gardens, a pavilion, sun terraces, a pool, as well as a billiards and cinema room – the latest project from a family of “serial home builders”.

“One of them is an architect and this is probably the sixth or seventh home they have built for themselves,” said co-selling agent Jason Scott of McGrath Paddington.

“But now that their daughter has graduated as an architect, they’ve decided to design and build another home – but this time together as a family.”

Scott said the home’s scale, design and flood-free position drew strong interest despite what he described as a “patchy market”.

“Not being flood-affected in that area makes the home quite a unique asset alone. But then to find something like this over a single level that’s just a couple of years old is also rare,” he said.

“It shows that good quality homes without compromises are still selling well. But we are starting to see sensitivity or hesitancy creep into the market now – especially when compromises have to be made.

“I think the market is getting patchier. And while anything under a million is still flying and flooded by demand, after that it’s harder.

“It will be interesting to see what happens in the Brisbane market over the next couple of months. We lost one bidder yesterday just because they are heavily invested in the stock market and that’s been a challenging place to be in the past couple of weeks. So they decided to not bid unconditionally and put through a conditional offer instead.”

Looking ahead to Easter, Scott said several headwinds could weigh on momentum.

“April is always a funny time because we have Easter and Anzac Day, but then you’ve got two rate rises, plus and minus everything else that’s happening globally,” he said.

The Kenmore result was one of 168 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 51 per cent from 113 reported results, with 22 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.

In Hawthorne, a first-home buyer paid $1.037 million for a two-bedroom unit, outmuscling three out of eight registered bidders in a fierce fight to get onto the property ladder.

Perched in a boutique complex at 5/71 Miles Street, the unit features city views and easy access to Bulimba’s Oxford Street.

In a bid to knock out rivals relying on the 5 per cent deposit scheme, one first-home buyer threw down an opening bid of $1 million, immediately sidelining half of the competition.

The remaining bidders then slugged it out in $5000 and $1000 increments until a young couple secured the keys.

“They had been looking for about six months and they were obviously so happy to get it … and very relieved to have no more open home inspections to go to,” said selling agent Daniel Lazzaroni of Ray White Bulimba.

“The vendors were also happy … they’ve had this one for 11 years. We thought it was going to pull up around the million-dollar mark to be honest, but this result is what happens when people really want it.”

The unit last sold for $465,000 in 2015.

In Norman Park, a local couple paid $1.612 million for a three-bedroom townhouse for their son – marking a near 27 per cent jump from its $1.275 million sale just three years ago.

The tri-level home at 2/12 Longfellow Street, set on a 188-square-metre block, was recognised at the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland and Australian Institute of Architects Regional Design Accolades back in 2019. It features open-plan living with a custom day bed, a trellis-lined alfresco area and a kitchen with waterfall benchtops.

Two out of three bidders actively competed, with bidding opening at $1.4 million.

“It was a great auction - I didn’t have to do anything. I just stood there as the two buyers fought it out,” said Joanna Gianniotis of Place Camp Hill.

“They kept going up against each other until $1.6 million when it was called on the market. Then the increments went from $50,000s to $1000s until the underbidder announced she was giving up because the other bidder clearly wasn’t going to.”

Gianniotis said the buyers live just around the corner, while the underbidder was a couple from Melbourne.

She added the home’s standout design, combined with tight supply, underpinned the result.

“There’s still such high demand for everything because there isn’t enough on the market,” she said.

LJ Hooker head of research and economics Matthew Tiller said Brisbane’s clearance rate pointed to resilient demand across the Queensland capital despite early signs of caution emerging.

“There are still sales and auctions taking place … and Brisbane and south-east Queensland in general are definitely still seeing a real lack of listings,” he said.

“We have seen price growth moderate more in Sydney and Melbourne, and that’s because more stock came on.

“But while we had good results over the weekend there was a noticeable softening in buyer and bidder confidence at auction.

“I think we’ll still see good buyer demand next weekend, but the interest rate hike and what’s happening over in the Middle East is putting pressure on household budgets, so there might be a bit of softening.”