The front door of 3 Burramugga Cres, Kirwan
A Townsville builder who specialises in multi-million dollar homes is the new owner of a unique ‘home’ that has been described as both an Aladdin’s cave and a collector’s retreat.
The unique “home” at 3 Burramugga Cresent in Kirwan, a suburb of Townsville, recently sold under the hammer for $255,000, with a whopping 27 registered bidders for the “lucky dip”.
The unique property was sold without the owner having seen it from the fence. It was a total package, with the new owner also buying everything that was still in the house.
The unique residence at 3 Burramugga Cres, Kirwan
And the list was extensive, from book collections to furniture, building materials and even a 1960s aluminum “Chesney” caravan.
“The property has an extensive collection of books ranging in genre and age that would excite even the most flamboyant librarian,” said Ian Clarke of Ian Clarke Real Estate of the property, which was sold on behalf of the Public Trustee.
The property, described as an “intellectual design by (a) former architect-designer”, consists of a “custom-built timber-framed, metal-clad home” on a 607m² plot.
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The photographs show a structure reminiscent of two silos or water tanks with a central section intended for ‘informal living’.
On one side are the living room, kitchen and garage, while on the other side there are three bedrooms, two of which have fitted wardrobes, a laundry room and a bathroom.
Photos of the interior show carpets, furniture, a large mirror, garden chairs, numerous books and retro electrical items.
Some rooms also have take-out food and other rubbish scattered around.
“I think some of the waste comes from squatters, but other than that it’s an eclectic mix,” he said.
“And it’s a big house, even if it’s a bit unusual.”
A bed surrounded by more books…and other stuff
A social media commentator, who claimed to live across the road, described it as a “rat paradise”.
But there was no shortage of potential buyers, with offers starting at $143,000 – or the land value.
From then on, Mr. Clarke said, things moved quickly before the remaining bidders competed against each other for $1,000.
“The buyer is a local builder who has bought a few renovated homes, but he is more of a high-end builder,” Clarke said.
“But he has some professionals who work for him who are having trouble with housing, so they are going to arrange it for them so they can stay.”
According to Mr Clarke, this is a trend that is becoming increasingly common in the current housing crisis.
“I’ve seen that happen a bit, where companies, particularly if they have a labour contract in Townsville, are buying properties to house staff,” he said.
“We saw that a lot during the mining boom.”
One of the three bedrooms
Mr Clarke said the owner was an architectural engineer but had not yet completed his passion project.
“It really is like going back in time there,” he said.
“There are VCRs and videos on the shelf, wow, a VCR. It seems like so long ago.”
The REIQ Vacancy Report, published in late April, described “relatively stable but dangerously low vacancy rates” during the first quarter of this year.
But there was also some ‘good news’ in the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report, published earlier this week.
3 Burramugga Mountains, Kirwan
Struggling tenants in Brisbane received some relief in June, with the vacancy rate rising 0.05 percentage points to 1.2 percent.
But the share of rental properties that are vacant and available in Brisbane has fallen by a staggering 45 per cent since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Conditions were even more dire in regional Queensland, with 48 per cent fewer rental properties on the market.
However, Regional Queensland also saw a small increase in vacancies in June, at 1.26 per cent.
Anne Flaherty, senior economist at PropTrack and author of the report, said the jump in listings was “good news for renters” but noted that a “chronic shortage of rental housing” is likely to persist in the coming years.
SuburbTrends’ Rental Pain Index Report also found that the impact of high rents remained a critical issue across Queensland, with the number of suburbs experiencing ‘extreme rental pain’ rising to more than 81 per cent.
According to Kent Lardner, founder of SuburbTrends, “that signaled growing affordability issues.”
“The impact of high rents on household budgets is enormous,” Lardner said.
SQM Research, which also tracks vacancy rates at various levels, estimates the rental market in North Queensland, which includes Townsville, was 1.5 per cent at the end of May, down from 1.8 per cent in March.
