Record sale changes auction narrative in Queensland

A record $24 million sale under the hammer on the Gold Coast has changed the auction narrative in the Sunshine State, according to the auctioneer who achieved the career-high result.

Apollo Auction’s auctioneer Rob Doorey recently set a Queensland auction price record when 59 The Corso on the Isle of Capri was sold for $24 million.

Rob says the sale was proof that the state’s most luxurious properties could achieve extraordinary results at auction. 

“There has been a bit of a furphy here in Queensland that you usually don’t auction this type of property, or in this location, because of the chance it might not attract many bidders,” he says.

“Before the auction, it was probably apparent that the market price of this property was north of $20 million.

“So, how many people would you think would actually be in the position to buy cash unconditionally at that level? Well, believe it or not, we had 10 registered bidders with most of them being current or former locals.”

The bidders vied strongly for the tropical resort-inspired, sprawling waterfront estate, which was marketed by Kollosche agents Sam Guo and Julia Kuo with Claire Dai and Michael Kollosche.

Rob fielded a total of 42 bids over more than an hour at the onsite auction, with proceedings stretching into the night.

Bidding kicked off at $15 million and paused at $20.1m for negotiations with the vendors and the highest bidder before a renewed flurry of offers ensued when it was announced as being on the market at $21.5 million.

The final two bidders battled it out to drive the price to its record level, with the final increment of $300,000 pushing the sale price under the hammer to $24 million.“Julia said to me when we were leaving the property, ‘You know, Rob, so many people said this couldn’t be done, and we did it, and we broke a record. How good is that?’” Rob recalls.

“A lot of the calls that the Apollo team and I have been fielding since is exactly that. The general consensus was, ‘Wow!” If you can sell a property at that level, then why are we holding back from doing auctions for high-end properties?

“It’s completely changed the narrative. It’s not just good for the agents that I was working with, but I think it’s amazing for all agents in the industry as a whole and just proves that auctions are such a sound process and a fantastic way to sell.”

In the lead-up to the auction, Rob admits to be excited rather than nervous, and says he treated the property the same as any other – regardless of the number of zeros attached to the potential sales price.

“At the end of the day, we treat every auction as just as important as each other. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a $150,000 block of land in Airlie Beach – because I call auctions up there – or whether it is, in this case, what turned out to be a $24 million property at the Isle of Capri. We don’t really change anything that we do.

“But I would be kidding myself and everyone else, if I didn’t admit there was a little person in the back of my mind saying, ‘Wow, can you believe this? This is amazing. Geez, I better get this, right!’”

Rob says once bidding passed $22 million it did feel somewhat “out of this world” – especially since two parties were still bidding strongly to secure one of the most exclusive properties on the coast.

“You’ve got two parties that are still battling it out – backwards and forwards – and not willing to give up,” he says.

“I don’t want to say I was surprised because that’s what we see in auctions regularly. That’s why we do that.”

With the biggest sale under the hammer of his career under his belt, Rob says he remains deeply appreciative of the opportunity to auction such a statement home and believes it will be the first of many in the future for him and the Apollo Auctions team.

“For me personally to be able to now say that I hold the record for the highest residential sale under the hammer in Queensland, I mean, that’s huge. It’s massive,” he says.

“It’s good for my clients because, realistically, being good for me is one thing, but if it doesn’t transfer to the agents that I work with and it’s of no use.

“I think, in this case, for an agent to be able to introduce me as someone who has the record for the highest sale under the hammer, for any person selling their home, they will know they’ve got someone that’s at the top of their game.

“They’ve got an auctioneer that really knows what they’re talking about and has the results to prove it.”