Govt pays 3 times median house price for unliveable derelict home

The government beat 63 other buyers to land this property.

The government has beaten 63 other buyers to buy an ‘uninhabitable’ derelict home for more than three times the median house price.

The huge $3.3m price paid was a massive $2.11m gain for the sellers who did no work on the site itself after buying it during the pandemic in June 2021 for $1.19m.

MORE: Rate cut windfall: Aus big bank’s shock new forecast

Shock as city’s distressed home listings surge 36pc in one month

The Wynnum Road property in Cannon Hill has been derelict for years after fire damage.

MORE: Cash-strap student turns $40k to 38 homes

Wallabies to wealth: Huge windfall looms for 25yo star

The government offered $3.3m in an expressions of interest campaign for the property which is 330 per cent that of the median house price listed in the latest PropTrack Home Price Index for Brisbane of $998,000.

The site is just 6km east of the Brisbane CBD and 3.1km to the Gateway Motorway.

Tom Barr of RWC Queensland and Matthew Fritzsche of Ray White Special Projects Qld., who led the sales campaign, said the price represented a site rate of $1,759 per square metre for the site which is on busy Wynnum Road in Cannon Hill.

Among those vying for the 1,876sq m property was The State of Queensland, builder-developers, private investors, and social and affordable housing providers.

“We are seeing a significant shift in buyer dynamics,” Mr Fritzsche said. “Alongside builder-developers, the State of Queensland has emerged as one of the most competitive and strategic purchasers in this asset class.”

The Queensland government has become a fierce bidder on the open market for properties that can be added to its development roster to meet housing needs.

MORE: Shock twist as former Virgin CEO to tear down $17m mansion

Inside slumlord’s crumbling empire: derelict, unliveable, worth millions

A Melbourne-based developer-owner-operator of childcare centres, Explorers Early Learning, had bought the site planning to expand into Queensland, filing for development approval for material change of use on site with the Brisbane City Council.

The development application was still in progress according to BCC documents.

Mr Fritzsche said “Explorers Early Learning saw the opportunity to reposition their investment strategy, which enabled the State to secure a well-located urban site suitable for future affordable housing delivery”.

A statement said the sale was part of a broader trend of increased government intervention in the housing market, particularly in metropolitan areas where there is high rental stress and limited new housing supply.

The childcare developer was seeking approval to build a new centre on the site which is on busy Wynnum Road in Cannon Hill. (Source: BCC)

‘The State of Queensland has been actively acquiring residential development sites to address the pressing housing crisis. This includes land suitable for new apartment projects, as well as existing apartment buildings, aged care facilities, and hotels that can be repurposed for social and affordable housing.”

The 1,876sq m site is over two titles and zoned Medium Density Residential (MDR) with 5 storey building height and over 37 metres of main road frontage.

It is just 350 metres from Cannon Hill Train Station and close to schools, early learning, hotels, and the Coles and Kmart anchored Cannon Hill Plaza Shopping centre.

MORE REAL ESTATE NEWS

The post Govt pays 3 times median house price for unliveable derelict home appeared first on realestate.com.au.