The house was barely liveable. Mould crept up the walls. Maggots infested the garage. The roof leaked, and the smell was so overpowering that even broken walls could not ventilate it effectively. Yet on Saturday, 26 Fifth Avenue in Berrinba went under the hammer to fierce bidding.
Ten bidders raised their hands as the gavel fell. The final price: $770,000. An investor who planned to gut the entire structure and rebuild won the day, walking away with what one agent candidly called "the worst house on the best street."
The three-bedroom property, sitting on a 623-square-metre block, had belonged to the same family for 40 years before sliding into years of neglect. Yet its location in one of Brisbane's most sought-after growth zones proved irresistible.Logan recorded property price gains of 19 per cent, making it among the nation's strongest performers.Greater Brisbane areas such as Logan have benefited and will continue to benefit from demand for housing in more affordable price ranges, making these areas highly attractive to property investors.
Jas Singh, the selling agent from Ray White Springwood, inspected the property multiple times. "The first time I inspected it the smell was shocking," he said. "But we chose to market it as is, so buyers knew what they were walking in to." Rather than hide the home's condition, Singh and his team were transparent about the work required. Still, 16 people showed up for the inspection, and 10 remained competitive bidders when the hammer came down.
Singh's assessment of the sale price tells you everything about where the market is heading. "This is basically the bottom end of the house market now," he observed. "If you want to buy anything decent here, you now need to spend closer to $1 million." That sentiment reflectsdemand concentrated in the more affordable segments, especially sub-$1 million attached properties, where the expanded First Home Buyer Guarantee has added another tailwind to tight conditions.
The auction also reflected a broader Brisbane trend.Brisbane remains a seller-leaning market because listings are tight, homes sell quickly, and auction clearance rates have been running near 74 per cent, indicating strong buyer competition. On Saturday, across South East Queensland, the preliminary clearance rate reached 49 per cent from 75 reported results out of 114 scheduled auctions, though this figure reflects a more moderate market than the early-year peaks.
Elsewhere in Brisbane that same weekend, two other sales underscored the diversity of buyer appetite. A heritage cottage in Spring Hill sold for $2.285 million; a five-bedroom character home in Sandgate smashed its street record at $2.105 million. Yet the Berrinba house captured something equally important: the intensity of competition at the bottom end, where investors see potential and first-home buyers are pushing affordability limits.
The winning investor at 26 Fifth Avenue plans to execute a full renovation and rebuild. Whether that gamble pays off depends partly on whether Brisbane's remarkable growth continues.Major banks forecast Brisbane property prices to rise between 4 per cent and 8 per cent in 2026, with Westpac predicting 8 per cent and CBA estimating a more conservative 4 per cent. Slower growth than 2025's run, perhaps, but growth nonetheless.
For now, the Berrinba auction sends a clear message: in Brisbane's outer suburbs, even the worst house on the best street will find its buyer.