Despite Christmas fast approaching, Brisbane’s weekend auction results held steady at a clearance rate of 35 per cent, with high numbers of registered bidders.

Post-war homes were the flavour of the week, with older properties seeing the market for the first time in decades, much to the delight of developers and investors.

In Wooloowin, a character home on 612 square metres at 53 View Street attracted 11 registered bidders, four of whom were active during the auction.

The property, which attracted more than 50 groups during the campaign as well as builder interest, sold for $875,000 to a developer.

Agent Jon Finney of Ray White Albion said the home had an emotional draw to it, having been owned by one family since 1949.

“It was just a joy for me to walk through it every day,” he said.

“Everyone was walking through saying, this reminds me of my grandparents’ place, it reminds me of my aunt’s place — there was just a lovely sense of history that was around it.”

He said the elderly vendor and her son would have preferred to sell to a buyer who would keep the home’s heritage elements.

“Both the son and the mum knew it had to be sold and because of where it was it was likely to go to a developer,” he said.

“Resignation was the emotion.”

Despite its obvious development potential, the property was fought over by developers, investors and owner-occupiers, who drove the price up quickly and eventually bid in increments of just $1000.

“There was a very low opening bid of $600,000 and I thought, we’ve got a long way to go here, it’s going to be a long, hot morning,” Mr Finney said.

“But it quickly progressed from there and it didn’t take any prompting, really, for a Mexican wave of bidding to start.

“It exceeded expectations, that’s for sure.”

Meanwhile, in the southeastern suburb of Camp Hill, another post-war home on a sizeable block at 6 Hartley Street, attracted a similar mix of buyers.

Agent Paula Pearce from Place Estate Agents Bulimba said the property’s larger land parcel and desirable location made it appealing to a range of purchasers.

“It was mixed,” she said. “We had some young people, middle aged and senior, and there was only one that wasn’t a developer or investor.

“The location is good and the house is a post-war home so it can be demolished, which does provide a bit of flexibility for the buyer.”

The auction was over in just 10 minutes after fast-paced bidding drove the price up quickly from an opening bid of $700,000.

“Four or five [bidders] worked really hard and it was a battle between two in the end,” Ms Pearce said.

“It was spirited bidding and it was well above reserve; the client is happy and the buyer knows he paid market price.”

The property sold to an investor for $815,000.

Ms Pearce said she was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, but always suspected the property’s land-bank potential would see it sold under the hammer.

“At the moment there are a lot of small-lot properties around and this one, being over 600 square metres, provides potential to do things you can’t if you’ve got a small lot,” she said.

“The fact that is has potential is exciting to buyers.

“I was hopeful because I thought this would be a property that would go well and it didn’t disappoint.”

Outside the development circuit, three young couples competed for a grand family home at 11 Arncliffe Close, Carindale.

Bidding opened at $849,000 and quickly jumped in $20,000 increments, before the hammer went down on a final price of $1,058,888.

Agent Peter Florentzos of LJ Hooker Sunnybank Hills said the home’s location and aspect were its biggest drawcards.

“It’s a great location on the top of the hill in a quiet cul-de-sac,” he said. “It’s a big block of land, fully renovated, close to all amenities — it just ticked all the boxes.”

Mr Florentzos said he strongly advised the vendors, who were downsizing locally, to take the sale through to auction despite conditional interest.

“If it’s the right thing to do for the vendors, I’ll always take it to auction,” he said. “I think every home should go to auction.”

Despite concern in the selling community, Mr Florentzos said the recent crackdown on pre-approvals had actually strengthened the Brisbane market.

“The market’s still very strong. Real-estate agents just have to work for a living for once and make sure they’re maximising people’s results for both buyers and sellers,” he said.

“What we’ve noticed is the credit crunch has limited certain people in borrowing capacities but what we’ve found is buyers are more qualified and more organised now.

“I think it’s actually a benefit to the market.”

He foresees a strong year ahead.

“I think we’re looking forward to a massive 2019,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great year.”