This house at 36A Oxlade Drive, New Farm has sold at auction for $8m.
A block acquired in a land swap with a friend 45 years ago has become the most valuable property for its size on the Brisbane River after it sold at auction on Saturday for $8 million.
Every square metre of usable land at 36A Oxlade Drive, New Farm is worth as much as a bathroom renovation.
“It’s $10,900 per square metre,” Ray White New Farm principal Matt Lancashire said.
The sale capped off a stellar weekend of auctions for the inner-city agent with $15 million in auction sales recorded.
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Ray White New Farm principal Matt Lancashire. Picture: Annette Dew
The New Farm property took out the preliminary highest sale of the day for the Ray White Group nationally.
“COVID has actually done the opposite to what everyone thought,” Mr Lancashire said.
“People don’t think they’re going to be travelling properly for the next three years and they want a nice house to live in. We’ve seen people significantly upgrading, not just doubling but in some cases tripling their asset value.
“I’ve got more buyers in the $5 million-plus range than I’ve ever had in 15 years of selling real estate.”
The view from the river of 36A Oxlade Drive, New Farm.
The four-bedroom deceased estate at New Farm had belonged to Brisbane Motor Auctions owner Peter Bettson, who acquired the 835sq m block (735sq m excluding the easement driveway) in a land swap for acreage on the Nerang River.
The property has direct river access.
“Dad had built a place on Bellview Crescent on the Nerang River where he had three acres,” Peter Bettson’s son, Jeff Bettson said.
“That was the house he swapped for Oxlade Drive.
“I can’t remember the guy’s name, we didn’t meet him but he was unwell and had to come down to get out of Brisbane.
“I expect that dad’s house appreciated a little more than the other guy’s did.”
The entrance to 36A Oxlade Drive, New Farm
Peter Bettson passed away 18 months ago and his wife Beverley had been living in the home until she passed away in June.
Eleven bidders took the property to auction with an opening bid of $5 million and five bidders were active even after the property passed $6 million.
At $7.5 million the auction was paused and the bid was negotiated to $8 million. The property was then announced on the market and sold unchallenged for that price.
Mr Lancashire said the house had sold to a local New Farm buyer who was looking to land bank the property.
The property is between New Farm Park and the Merthyr Bowls Club.
“No it wasn’t a Seymour,” Mr Lancashire said, referring to the prolific property development family, led by Kevin Seymour, who has been snapping up riverside blocks and shaping Brisbane’s skyline for more than five decades.”
Mr Bettson said he was happy his parents’ home, which is located between New Farm Park and the Merthyr Bowls Club, was not being earmarked for development.
The kitchen.
“We were concerned about who would buy it,” Mr Bettson said.
“You need units in certain places, as long as it’s all balanced development. New Farm has a unique character and a very strong village feel. There are units around it, but there are places where you don’t need units and not many properties are coming on the market in this area.”
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