A humble two-bedroom Labrador apartment stole the show at a mega auction event on the Gold Coast, where $105 million worth of property changed hands over the weekend.
There were 101 Gold Coast properties scheduled to go to auction at the Ray White Bell Group's mega auction on Sunday, with about a third selling before the main event.
The group sold $105 million worth of properties, achieving a clearance rate of 84% on Sunday, with hopes of reaching over 90% by the end of Tuesday.
While luxurious waterfront estates and sought-after family homes were on offer, it was a simple apartment in Labrador that attracted the most bidders on the day, with 12 registered bidders and five active bidders.
The property: The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at 1/14-16 Bright Avenue, Labrador sold under the hammer for $820,000, marketed as a low-maintenance home ideal for first-home buyers and investors alike.
The two-bedroom apartment at 1/14-16 Bright Avenue, Labrador sold for $820,000. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Suburb snapshot: Labrador’s median unit price has increased 11.8% to $760,000 over the year to December 2025, according to PropTrack. The median house price was up 13.1% to $1.189 million.
Andrew Bell, auctioneer and chairman of Ray White Bell Group, told realestate.com.au about the competitive sale and the major auction event.
Ray White Bell Group chairman Andrew Bell was one of the auctioneers at the Gold Coast auction event. Picture: Celeste Humphrey
Which auction stood out for you?
The first auction at Bright Avenue, Labrador was a standout. It ticked the box for everyone, and it was about as cheap an entry point as you can get into the Gold Coast. It's no surprise that there were lots of people interested in it, including first-home buyers, single buyers and investors. Many investors aren't thinking about investing $2 million for a rental property, they're thinking about sub-$1 million. So there was a lot of interest from a diversity of buyers.
The Labrador apartment auction attracted 12 registered bidders and five active bidders. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
How often do you get that many bidders for a property?
It's not that uncommon. If a property has unique features, then you will get a much bigger crowd. This home was 150 metres away from the broadwater, which makes up the still waterways between the ocean and the land where our ferries go, and it has sandy little beaches. The apartment was also really close to public transport, which was an attraction for a lot of people. So there were a number of features, apart from the actual apartment itself, that made this more interesting or appealing to a bigger pool of buyers.
The Bright Avenue apartment was located near the broadwater and public transport. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Were you surprised by the result?
It went a bit higher than I thought, but I've learned over the last few years that I shouldn't cap my own thinking. The market is driven by its own forces. I can understand why people really liked this one, it was on a quiet street and close to the broadwater, in particular the Southport area. Southport had a bit of a social stigma to it, but now that all of the surrounding suburbs have gone up in value, people are taking another look at it. We're seeing an enormous focus on the Southport and Labrador markets, which are next to each other, and so buyers will see a bit more upside there than they’ll see in some of the other suburbs that have had a lot of price growth.
First-home buyers, single buyers and property investors were interested in the Labrador home. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
How is the Gold Coast property market?
It's one of the strongest markets in the country, and that's in part because we've always been seen as being somewhat affordable in comparison to the capital cities, but even that gap has closed. What continues to drive the market is that we're seen as the lifestyle city of Australia. We're big enough that we have all of the major factors like high-level schooling and a really good hospital system, but we’re small enough not to have all of the traffic and issues that you have in big cities. So it's a really comfortable size.
Property buyers also liked the quiet location where the Labrador home was situated. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Predictions for the area?
I think the [Labrador and Southport] areas will outperform most other markets here on the coast in 2026 because they’re central. It's the CBD of the Gold Coast. It's not like the Sydney or Melbourne CBDs that are full of office buildings and so on, but we do have all our major businesses domiciled in Southport. The light rail has come through now, and we're getting a new entertainment facility – a stadium for about 12,000-13,000 people. It’s the location of our hospital system and the health and knowledge precinct, which is a specialty area that the Gold Coast City Council has invested in to attract tech businesses to domicile themselves on the coast. So there's a lot of really good things happening in the Southport area.
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