A dearth of properties available for sale prompted investors to buy up to 20 Gold Coast homes ahead of Ray White's scheduled one-day Gold Coast boardroom sale on Sunday.
The offers made ahead of the annual event - which was scheduled to auction 115 properties in one day on Sunday - showed investors were full of confidence about the region, Ray White Surfers Paradise chief executive Andrew Bell said.
"It's slightly more [presales] than last year," Mr Bell told The Australian Financial Review on Sunday. "People have confidence in the region and they're prepared to be bold with their offers prior to auction because they want the property."
While the larger markets of Sydney and Melbourne eased through their last quiet weekend of the summer season, listings were up from 98 last year at the Ray White Surfers Paradise sale known as 'The Event'.
Higher prices in the two largest cities and unchecked demand from investors - whose borrowing jumped 4.9 per cent in November, official figures earlier this month showed - continue to drive buyers from the southern states north into southeast Queensland.
A five-bedroom house at 22 Yacht Street in Southport, sold prior to auction for $1.56 million. A three-bedroom townhouse at 5212 Marine Drive West in Sanctuary Cove sold for $800,000.
"People are conscious that Sydney and Melbourne have had a very long run of property price growth and that this has to come to an end at some point," Mr Bell said. "This has made the Gold Coast a really attractive marketplace from a value perspective. Buyer activity has risen and naturally that has led more sellers onto the market."
The Reserve Bank's record-low 1.5 per cent cash rate is keeping investor demand for housing strong.
Stock volumes are likely to remain modest. Domain Group figures show that auction numbers for were down on the equivalent weekend last year. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, ACT and SA had a scheduled total 181 auctions, less than the 308 of a year earlier. While NSW auctions numbers rose slightly, to 55 from 47, in Victoria, the number was less than half, at 45.
Sydney sold 32 of the 41 auction results recorded, while Melbourne sold 14 of the 19 results recorded.
A two-bedroom unit at 14/50 Warialda Street Kogarah in Sydney's southern suburbs sold for $570,000. A three-bedroom house at 999A Riversdale Road in Melbourne's Surrey Hills, which sold for $1,205,000 at auction.
"It's a slow start," Domain chief economist Andrew Wilson said. "We will have on 200 auctions in Melbourne and Sydney the following weekend."
Domain is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of The Australian Financial Review.
