Something unusual happened at 30 Lister Street, Sunnybank.
Eight registered bidders. Thirty-two groups through. Sold in 17 days for $1,701,000 — well above reserve.
The Courier-Mail covered it — read the full article here. And they should have.
Because right now, results like that don’t just happen.
They are built.
What Is Actually Happening in the Market Right Now
Let’s be direct about what the data is showing.
According to the Australian Financial Review, Brisbane’s auction clearance rate recently hit as low as 22 per cent — a six-year low according to Domain. Nationally, the combined capital city clearance rate dropped to just 51 per cent for the week ending 30 May 2026, well below the 65 per cent recorded at the same time last year. Three consecutive RBA interest rate rises have tightened what buyers can borrow. And the Federal Government’s 2026 Budget announcements around negative gearing and capital gains tax have rattled investor confidence further.
From 1 July 2027, negative gearing for established investment properties will be restricted to new builds only. The existing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount will be replaced with a 30 per cent minimum tax on gains. For investors who bought established properties after Budget night on 12 May 2026, the changes take effect even sooner.
The result? Buyers are more cautious. The pool has contracted.
Properties are sitting. Open homes are quiet. Auctions are passing in.
This is the market most sellers are navigating right now.
The Real Problem Isn’t the Market. It’s the Strategy.
Here’s the part most agents won’t tell you.
The majority of agents rely on just two property portals to sell your home: realestate.com.au and domain.com.au. They upload the listing, set the price, and wait. That’s the entire strategy.
To be fair — that approach works when the market is strong and local buyers are plentiful. When demand is high, the portals do the heavy lifting. Buyers are everywhere. Auctions fill with local competition.
That is not the case right now.
The local buyer pool has contracted. And when you limit your campaign to two portals hoping local buyers will find you, you are competing for a smaller and smaller audience.
When conditions tighten, competition does not come from the street next door. It comes from interstate. From overseas. From advisors managing wealth for families who are buying for their children and their grandchildren. From buyers no local agent has ever spoken to.
Competition drives price.
And if your agent cannot reach those buyers, you never know what you left on the table.
What 30 Lister Street Proved
30 Lister Street, Sunnybank was a deceased estate. Built in the 1950s, it had belonged to one family for its entire life. It had never once changed hands.
The four adult children who inherited it were not just looking for a sale. They wanted the right people to walk through that door next.
We sold it on Saturday, 30 May 2026 — the same weekend most auction campaigns across Queensland were passing in or recording some of the worst clearance rates in six years.
32 groups through. 8 registered bidders. Sold well above reserve for $1,701,000.
Interstate buyers registered to bid. Overseas buyers registered to bid.
That is what a broad buyer network looks like in practice.
The Courier-Mail ran the story because results like this are rare in the current environment.
They shouldn’t be.
Why the Agent’s Network Is Now the Most Important Factor in Selling
We work with buyers from over 13 countries.
We have over 23,000 social media followers across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram — the largest social following of any agent on Brisbane’s Southside.
We deal directly with interstate families. With overseas buyers. With advisors who manage investment decisions for affluent clients — clients purchasing properties for generational wealth, for their children, for their grandchildren.
This is not a marketing claim. It is the reason 30 Lister Street had eight people prepared to compete on the same day.
In a contracted market, every additional qualified buyer who walks through your door changes what is possible.
One extra bidder can be the difference between a property passing in and a record result.
Strategy Matters More Than Ever Right Now
A rising market forgives poor strategy. A tightening market does not.
Right now, every decision in a campaign matters.
How the property is positioned. Which buyers are targeted. How fast and how precisely those buyers are followed up. How the property is presented to a buyer in Sydney versus a buyer in Hong Kong versus a family in Singapore looking to plant roots in Brisbane.
There is no cookie-cutter approach here.
The properties that are sitting unsold right now are not all bad properties in bad locations. Many of them simply have not been positioned in front of the right buyers with the right message. And when follow-up is slow or generic, qualified buyers move on.
In a market where the local buyer pool has contracted, the speed and precision of follow-up is not a nice-to-have.
It is everything.
The Question Every Seller Should Be Asking Their Agent
Before you list your property — or before you extend a campaign that is not performing — ask your agent one direct question:
“Outside of the major portals, how specifically will you reach buyers who are not already looking in this suburb?”
If the answer is vague, that tells you everything.
The agents who are still delivering strong results in this environment are not lucky. They have a genuine buyer network. They have reach that extends beyond the postcode. They have built relationships with qualified buyers before those buyers ever decide they want to buy.
That network is not built in a week. It is built over years.
If Your Property Is Sitting, or You’re Thinking About Selling — Let’s Talk
Whether you are planning to sell, thinking about upsizing or downsizing, or your property has been on the market and is not moving — the conversation costs you nothing.
What it might save you is significant.
I am happy to look at your situation, talk you through what is actually happening in your suburb, and give you an honest picture of what a well-positioned campaign looks like in this market.
Not generic advice.
Specific strategy. For your property.
Give me a call or send me a message. I’d be glad to help.
