CHINESE BUYER PAYS RECORD PRICE FOR PRIME SPOT
MONEY TO BURN
A MAJOR Mermaid Waters property that was the longtime waterfront home of canal engineer the late Jock McIlwain has sold for a record-breaking $11 millionplus after a virtual buyer frenzy.
The 1.1ha property, described as a trophy estate, has been bought by a Gold Coast Chinese buyer and is expected to be cleared and used for a high-end residential enclave.
The sale, which is unconditional and settles in
THE sale of the McIlwain estate at Mermaid Waters has left buyers collectively willing to spend more than $250 million on Gold Coast residential property with unsatisfied appetites, says an agent involved in the deal.
“If this sale doesn’t illustrate what appeal the top end of the market has to wealthy and bullish buyers, I don’t know 30 days, is at more than three times the site’s $3.4 million rateable value.
The buyer’s offer headed off 35 other written ones from investors and developers and the deal was quickly cemented after expressions of interest closed last Thursday.
The response to the marketing push has been described as a “super strong”.
“People had watched the property for years and were itching to get their hands on it,” Dax Roep, of Ray White Special Projects, said on what does,” Michael Willems, of Ray White Commercial said yesterday.
“We have 35 buyers out there who made written offers on the McIlwain land and missed out.
“My observations are that many of those remain hungry to buy.
“They will, providing the right stock becomes available,
Monday. “It’s sold but amazingly people continue to inquire about it.”
Mr Roep, who marketed the property in tandem with colleague Matthew Fritzsche be active and will put a very solid foundation under the market for super homes and waterfront land.
“That being the case, there’ll be competition among buyers and values could be pushed higher.
“The appeal of Queensland is growing by the day and the Gold Coast is an appeal pacesetter,” he said. and Ray White Commercial’s Michael Willems, would not disclose the price achieved but said it was more than $10 million.
Property sources said it was a whisker over
$11 million.
Mr Roep said the contenders for 34 McIlwain Dve were from the Gold Coast and Brisbane, with multiple offshore buyers also throwing their hats into the ring.
The property, at the end of a cul-de-sac, and occupied by a major 1970s home, has a 300m water frontage spanning three sides of the site. The highest previous residential sale in Mermaid Waters was 29-31 Cessnock Close, a home on 1633sq m and which sold for $3.25 million in 2017.
Mr McIlwain, who died aged 89 in 2016, “engineered” canal estates Mermaid Waters, Sorrento, and Broadbeach Waters, along with some of the areas around the Isle of Capri.
The family property was put on the market in March in the wake of Mr McIlwain’s wife, Beverley, dying last year.