Historic beach shack sold for eye-popping sum

Miami’s first beachfront shack, built by the family of Wallabies great Andrew Slack in 1960, has sold for a record $5.72m after more than a year on the market.

It’s the highest price ever paid for a residential house in the popular Gold Coast suburb, trumped only by a luxury penthouse apartment along the same stretch which sold under the hammer for $8.125m in 2022.

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The humble home on a 405 sqm lot was marketed by Amir Prestige agents, Amir Mian and Ben Ada.

Investor Surjit Singh purchased the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 120 Marine Pde for $3.9m in December 2020, renovating its interiors and securing a celebrity tenant.

Mr Singh had plans drawn up for a unit development but put the property back on the market in 2022 — meanwhile the rent was most recently hiked by $500 a week to a whopping $4,300.

Two agents and a number of campaign switches later, a buyer was secured who planned to build a dream family home at the site.

Mr Ada said he planned to take the house to auction to capitalise on a renewed surge of interest in beachfront real estate.

“There has been a massive increase in interest over the last quarter,” Mr Ada said.

“Prices have surged again and we have been seeing record sales throughout the Gold Coast, and in that light we thought we’d call another auction.”

Multiple offers were presented to the owner ahead of the scheduled auction date, and the top one from a Brisbane-based buyer was accepted.

Mr Singh said he had been in no rush to sell, but had pursued other investment opportunities since buying the house, which had Tasmanian oak hardwood floors and a large timber deck overlooking the ocean.

“There were a lot of people who looked at the property, and certain people who wouldn’t see the potential. But Ben and Amir finally found this gentleman who could see the value in it,” Mr Singh said.

“It shows that it is not always a matter of finding a developer, it can be finding the right person who wants the property for personal reasons.”

Brisbane-born Andrew Slack captained the Wallabies in 19 Test matches between 1984 and 1987, leading the Aussies to a win against the All Blacks at Eden Park, Auckland in 1986.

The Slack family had acquired the Miami land in 1958, with the house considered an example of luxury living in its heyday. It was held by the family for more than 60 years.

PropTrack data shows house prices in Miami were up 5.5 per cent over the past 12 months, to a median of $1.478m.