Brisbane Hoarder House Sells for $1.28M in Elite Suburb Despite Junk

Overgrown Property Fetches High Price at Auction

A severely cluttered home in Brookfield, a prestigious acreage suburb in Brisbane’s inner west, has sold at auction for $1.28 million. The area features luxury mansions with pools and tennis courts, attracting Queensland’s elite residents.

On February 10, around 130 people gathered for the on-site auction. Forty registered bidders competed for 30 minutes until Nic Vukovic claimed the one-hectare Nioka Street property.

Property Condition and Sale Details

Queensland Public Trustee auctioneer Paul Gaffney noted the sale occurred on an ‘as is’ basis, including hundreds of kilograms of hoarded items inside the house and scattered across the land. Overgrowth hid the property from aerial views, blocked car access, and made it unsafe for standard building and pest inspections. The swimming pool requires filling in due to irreparable damage.

Gaffney described the core structure as a sturdy brick house with four bedrooms, a dining room, living room, study, kitchen, basement, double carport, and a non-certified pool. ‘There is a great deal to do, but the pay-off is there in the long run with this amazing hectare of land in one of Brisbane’s most exclusive suburbs.’

Buyer’s Perspective

New owner Nic Vukovic nearly overlooked the listing upon first glance. ‘I thought wow, that looks terrible,’ Vukovic said. ‘But my mum said wow that’s exciting. She loves doing renovations. It’s going to be an interesting project, that’s for sure.’

The buyer faces significant cleanup to transform the site into a family home. Brookfield’s median price for four-bedroom houses stands at about $1.7 million, with comparable sales reaching $3.8 million recently.

Housing Market Pressures

The sale highlights fierce demand for limited land in Australia. KPMG projects Brisbane house prices to rise 10.9 percent in 2026 and 8.9 percent in 2027. Nationally, values should increase 7.7 percent this year and 6 percent next, before easing due to affordability issues and stabilizing population growth.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne pointed to recent policies, such as the late-2025 expansion of the 5 percent deposit scheme, boosting demand especially at entry levels. However, new housing completions lag targets by about 30 percent over the next two years, averaging 150,000 to 170,000 dwellings annually after accounting for demolitions.

Affordability worsens, with median house values now 8.9 times average income—up from 6.6 five years ago. The repayment-to-income ratio is 50.6 percent.