The Gold Coast auction market is one of the most active, exciting and successful in the country.

Yet this hasn’t always been the case.

In the past in Queensland, buyers and sellers were hesitant to embrace auctions as a method of sale. Fast-paced, transparent, and a little too public for a market that valued privacy and control, auctions struggled to gain favour, despite being customary practice in other states.

People simply felt more comfortable with an expression of interest or private treaty campaign, where negotiations played out behind closed doors.

While this did start to change in the early 2000s, it wasn’t until the era of Covid-19 that Queenslanders truly began to understand – and embrace – the auction process.

A TURNING POINT

The pandemic created a market unlike anything seen before. As people’s desire for space and lifestyle became more acute, buyers looked to Queensland, snapping up properties sight-unseen and paying premiums well beyond expectation out of fear of missing out.

Fuelled by emotion, urgency, and a scarcity of stock, the conditions made it almost impossible to estimate a property’s true value.

Suddenly, more people were choosing auction campaigns, viewing their competitive and transparent process as the fairest, and often only, way to determine market value – proven under the hammer.

KOLLOSCHE’S BOLD MOVE

In the pandemic’s aftermath, although people had come to better understand the auction process, it was a bold and daring move by Kollosche in 2023 that changed the landscape in Queensland forever.

In an audacious move, the agency decided to take a landmark inner-city waterfront estate to auction. Nothing of the scale or notoriety of 59 The Corso on the Isle of Capri had ever been successfully sold this way before.

“It was a gamble,” recalls Kollosche Managing Director Michael Kollosche, “but we believed that the transparency and competition of an auction would achieve an outcome no negotiation process could.”

The gamble paid off. The property sold for $24 million and set a Queensland record for the highest residential sale ever under the hammer.

Far from a unicorn result, Kollosche repeated the process with another riverfront estate – 5 McMillan Court in Southport – less than four months later. It achieved $24.8 million and reset the Queensland auction price record for the second time that year.

The success of these record-setting auctions sparked a cultural shift among buyers and vendors who now consider auctions a credible method of sale across any price point. Today, they have become one of the most trusted and successful ways to list and sell a home.

BEHIND THE SUCCESS

Kollosche is a major advocate of auction campaigns and has continued to achieve exceptional sales results, positioning it as a leader in the market. For the past three consecutive years it has set the record for the highest residential auction sale in Queensland. Following the sale of 5 McMillan Court in 2023, Kollosche sold 65 Albatross Avenue in 2024 for a record $16,950,000 and 219-222 Hedges Avenue in Mermaid Beach in 2025 for $23,445,000. It has also set numerous suburb records across the Gold Coast.

The secret to Kollosche’s auction success is attributable to its highly collaborative approach with agents working together to leverage a shared database of contacts and qualified buyers.

Many of its sales agents are also licensed auctioneers, who bring a high level of knowledge and understanding to the process. This insider experience allows them to guide buyers and sellers, alleviating any potential concerns or stress.

Kollosche also delivers highly strategic and targeted marketing campaigns that ensure properties are reaching the right audiences to help build interest and competition come auction day.

A notable achievement came as recently as last week when Kollosche secured $48.6 million in sales across six auctions in just 24 hours. These included:

• 277-279 Monaco Street, Broadbeach Waters
• 4/142 Marine Parade, Miami
• 34 Naples Avenue, Isle of Capri
• 34 Sunbrite Avenue, Mermaid Beach
• 48 Amalfi Drive, Isle of Capri
• 16 Montego Court, Mermaid Waters

“Auctions celebrate a property, create competition, and give everyone – buyer and seller – absolute confidence in the outcome. For us, that is what success looks like,” Michael says.

From skepticism to widespread adoption, Queensland’s auction market has matured, with Kollosche continuing to lead from the front. Its success is a testament to the collective strength of its team, its exclusive database of highly qualified contacts and unique marketing strategies.