ACCOUNTANT Gregory Hall was the winning bidder today of 48 Didsbury St, East Brisbane which he bought for $920,000 at the Ray White Auction Spectacular at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
“We need to buy some furniture now,” said Mr Hall with a chuckle.
The Hall family have been living on their catamaran moored at Dockside, Kangaroo Point since 2010 after they sailed the boat - which they also built - from South Africa with their three children. Their youngest child Clea was just two years old at the start their epic sailing adventure.
Mr Hall and his wife Emmanuelle, a school teacher, and three children arrived in Brisbane in November 2010, just before the big flood in Jnauary 2011.
"We were actually heading for New Zealand but we fell in love with Brisbane,” said the CFO who works in Milton.
“It took us over two years to make the trip but we have just sold our boat and the time is right for us now to buy a home as our children are bigger. In fact our 18 year old son Victor keeps hitting his head so we have outgrown the boat,” he said.
The family of five plus their cat had been looking to buy around West End, Highgate Hill, East Brisbane since last December.
'We have been to a lot of auctions and I must say this Ray White event is very well run."
Selling agent Madi Roche of Ray White East Brisbane said both East Brisbane and Wolloongabba had experienced “fantastic growth” in recent years, and she expected that to continue.
“There’s a huge amount of money being spent on infrastructure and with more restaurants, bars and coffee shops opening, the lifestyle appeal is only getting better as well,” she said.
“We’re finding that young couples, families and expats are wanting to live within a proximity to the school they choose for their kids.”
Owner Holly Robinson said she had many fond memories of the six bedroom home at 48 Didsbury St, East Brisbane, which was given to her mother, now deceased, by a family friend whom she cared for.
“It’s a mixed emotions feeling but I am happy it has sold. I either want to have a glass of champagne now or a sleep, I am not sure which one,” Ms Robinson said, who lives with her musician husband Michael Webb in northern New South Wales.
Of the 47 properties on the order of sale the biggest sale was $4.350M paid for a grand house at 100 Oriel Rd, Clayfield by a local family with school aged children upgrading from nearby Hendra.
Ray White New Farm agent Tom Lyne said 100 Oriel Road, Clayfield was meticulously built in 1987 and tightly held for three decades.
“It’s been a cherished family home from day one and will continue to be som,” Mr Lyne said of the four bedroom which sits on 2034sq m with manicured gardens and Helidon sandstone.
“A home of this calibre is rarely offered to the Brisbane market.”
In front of a crowd of 200 people, Ray White auctioneers Haesley Cush and Mitch Peereboom worked their gavels into a frenzy on a stunning blue sky day in Brisbane.
In the end the experienced pair sold more than $7M in real estate across 16 of the 47 available lots today, with action on all of the remaining lots with many sales expected in coming days.
Media Contact
Alex Tilbury
Ray White Media Manager
0413 842 112
