Brisbane has snatched the title of the top-performing city in Australia for luxury residential price growth in the latest Knight Frank study of the world’s global property hotspots.
Chief executive officer of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland Antonia Mercorella said the local market was performing well, with 16 suburbs in the million-dollar club and strong activity, particularly at the $5 million-plus end.
The detached, highset Queenslander houses, have become iconic, and Gina Rinehart now owns the most expensive Queenslander in Brisbane.
AUSTRALIA’S richest woman Gina Rinehart is now the owner of an $18.5 million Hawthorne riverfront property.
Technically she, or one of her companies — Wingfield Ave Pty Ltd, already owned the riverfront home, but property records reveal it has now been transferred into Rinehart’s name personally.
The house and adjoining block covers 4545 sqm of prime riverfront land.
Housing history researcher Magnus Eriksson, who tracks the history of houses in southeast Queensland, said the quintessential Queenslander home was a rare breed.
“If WWF (World Wildlife Fund) was doing a survey, it would probably put it on the most-threatened list,” Mr Eriksson told the Courier-Mail. “I would certainly say they’re disappearing and not being replaced.”
Mr Eriksson said true Queenslander homes were characterised as having a lightweight timber construction, a corrugated metal roof and a highset frame.
The style was developed in the 1800s and began to change in the 1930s.
“That highset style started disappearing and more of a modern style came in,” Mr Eriksson said.
“There are a few replicas going up, but there’s not too many of them. Only a few are built in the true form.”
Ms Rinehart's property was not publicly listed for sale at the time of purchase, so little is known is about it. It does have an inground pool, tennis court, views across the river to New Farm and a private pontoon.
Why Everybody loves a Queenslander:
There is strong demand for Queenslander homes that are either completely renovated or in their raw, original state.
“They’ve got a lot of natural light, character features, good entertaining spaces and are open, airy properties.
“Given they’re timber, it allows them to be modernised or renovated in a very easy process.”
Even recycled and relocatable Queenslanders are proving hot property, and often come at a fraction of the price.
Brisbane house removal specialists Mackay and Sons not only relocates houses, it salvages them, and sells them to buyers looking for a bargain.
One character Queenslander currently located in the Gold Coast Hinterland on what was once a grape vineyard and cattle farm is listed for $85,000, which includes relocation, low set stumping, any damage to plaster work and structural insurance during delivery.
Read more:
Mystery over Gina Rinehart’s prized Brisbane waterfront home - Sophie Foster 23 JUL 2018
Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart is now the owner of an $18.5m Brisbane property - Michelle Hele - The Courier-Mail MAY 9, 201811:57PM
Why everyone loves a Queenslander (home) - Elizabeth Tilley 02 JUN 2019