How Denis the dog helped retirees scoop up bayside home

A dog called Denis the Menace helped a run-down Clontarf home fetch $675,000 under the hammer after a retired couple with Denis in tow meandered past the auction and decided on the spot to have a crack.

Despite walking through the first open home and insisting they weren’t interested, even asking to be taken off the buyer list, the pair wound up registering to bid at 9 Thomas Street and outmuscling three others – paying almost $300,000 less than the home was valued at in March.

They plan to renovate the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home that’s “so run down you’d basically need to strip it back to the frame” and give it to their daughter.

It sits on a 594-square-metre block a stone’s throw from the water.

As the contract was signed, selling agent Jesse James, of Ray White Redland Bay, was quick to thank Denis. But he was just as quick to admit the auction laid bare how tough market conditions have become.

Over three weeks of open inspections just 13 groups came through. On auction day, bidding kicked off at $200,000.

“When we got to $500,000, all four registered bidders had been active and then they all stopped,” James said.

“But we kept it going with a vendor bid at $600,000.

“I said, ‘Guys, it’s not selling for $600,000.’ And then we got an increase to $650,000 and took it back to the seller. The bank valuation for this home was sub $1 million in March.”

Despite the ho-hum inspection numbers, James said gleaning four registered bidders was a win.

James said the home was a deceased estate and “needed a fair bit of work”.

“In my opinion you’d have to strip it back to the frame ... you’d have to spend $250,000 on it. So I wasn’t surprised it didn’t go to a first home buyer.

“Especially when you think about the interest rate rises.”

Last Tuesday, the Reserve Bank increased the cash rate to 4.6 per cent – the highest level since 2011.

James said the hike compounded already tough conditions but believed the biggest challenge remained bridging the chasm between vendor and buyer expectations.

He expects stock levels to rise in the coming weeks as more homes languish in the listings.

“We’ll also see more distressed listings. There are the poor people that entered the market in the last two years and this latest rise is going to hurt,” he said.

The home was one of 145 scheduled auctions across South East Queensland over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 22 per cent from 102 reported results, with 12 homes withdrawn.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said sentiment remained negative with Brisbane’s “bleak” figures indicating the downturn was taking its toll.

“Brisbane to me looks like it’s overtaking Sydney on the downward trend,” he said.

“I’d actually say Brisbane is the most vulnerable capital city market right now, followed by Adelaide.”

A new architecturally designed five-bedroom home in Windsor proved not all buyers were resting on their laurels. It collected $3.7 million under the hammer to a mum who lives 100 metres down the road.

The home sits on a 405-square-metre block at 137 Fifth Avenue and features a pool and a built-in-bar.

The mum of three – who had watched the home being built and long fallen in love before it hit the market – opened proceedings at $3 million. It sparked a flurry of $100,000 rises between mainly two out of the three registered bidders.

Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker said the result proved top turn-key homes still commanded good results, but added buyer caution remained.

“I had eight auctions on Saturday, and I sold two prior and four under the hammer,” he said.

“I think the good agents are still getting deals done … but at the moment buyers are a little bit nervous.”

Selling agent Alistair Macmillan, of Ray White Wilston, said the sale price beat the record for a block that size in Windsor by $500,000.

In Red Hill, a rare five-bedroom home on a 930-square-metre block at 11 Hawthorn Terrace sold for $2.96 million under the hammer to a couple living a few streets away.

The home last sold in 2020 for $1.65 million and had been meticulously updated and maintained while featuring a pool, gazebo and a pizza oven.

Four registered to bid and three were active after the auction opened at $2.5 million.

It quickly became a two-horse race between the buyer and a buyers’ advocate.

Selling agent Max Hadgelias, of Ray White Paddingon, said the home was called on the market at $2.95 million with the eventual buyer throwing down another $10,000 to clinch the keys.