Never mind the shagpile and lino: Auchenflower house sells for millions

A century-old house with shagpile carpet and mustard-coloured lino that has never changed hands has now sold for a reserve-smashing $3.225 million.

Perched on an 899-square-metre parcel with city views, the unrenovated three-bedroom house at 74 Agnes Street in Auchenflower was described as one of the last of its kind.

Beneath its peeling mid-century wallpaper, it offered a prime piece of land with three-street frontage and a subdivision opportunity that could see it split into two corner lots in what is now Brisbane’s third-most expensive suburb.

Seven buyers – representing a mix of developers and owner-occupiers – registered for the Saturday auction and six bid. A Redcliffe family kicked off bidding at $2.1 million, sparking a developer to quickly counter with $2.52 million.

“We had a few buyers hesitating after that,” said selling agent Josh Brown, of Ray White Collective.

“That brought the price pretty close to the reserve, so we paused and then called it on the market.”

It sparked a flurry of more than 100 rises ranging between $500 and $25,000, including one eyebrow-raising bid of $2,842,368.74. Yet even that precise rise didn’t slow momentum.

At $3.225 million the hammer dropped and a local family claimed the keys.

“It’s a pretty unique house with a northern aspect on a big allotment surrounded by beautiful homes.

“And it’s untouched … it was owned by the same family for 100 years. There are not many homes like this left here.”

The auction came weeks after Auchenflower muscled its way into Brisbane’s top-three priciest suburbs. Domain’s June House Price Report showed house medians skyrocketed 26.1 per cent in 12 months to $2.175 million.

While the pocket’s pulling power underpinned the result, Brown said buyer confidence had also crept back.

The home was one of 153 scheduled auctions across south-east Queensland. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 20 per cent from 94 reported results, with 16 homes withdrawn.

In Hawthorne, a two-bedroom, one-bathroom townhouse sold for $1.02 million after three active bidders battled for the keys. A woman who had sold her place in Newstead six months earlier, and was living with a friend, claimed the prize.