Millionaire Mark McIvor's wife in tears as Gold Coast home passed in $2m below value at auction
Greg Stolz From: The Courier-Mail September 19, 2011 6:07AM
THE wife of one of the Gold Coast's richest men was reduced to tears yesterday after their mansion was passed in at auction almost $2 million below its value.
Stacey McIvor, wife of merchant banker and property investor Mark McIvor, wept after the five-bedroom riverfront home in exclusive Cronin Island drew a top bid of $4.55 million.
A disappointed Mr McIvor said the home had been valued at $6.5 million and that the auction was "a demonstration of a very hard market".
"It's (the top bid) well below replacement cost," he said.
The auction failure is symptomatic of a depressed Gold Coast property market.
Earlier this year, a mansion on the Coast's "Millionaires Row" - Hedges Avenue at Mermaid Beach - changed hands for less than half the price it sold for in 2008.
The McIvor mansion's failure to sell comes despite it occupying arguably the Gold Coast's most exclusive address, Cronin Island.
The suburb comprises just one street (Southern Cross Drive) with only 33 houses, all fronting the Nerang River.
Designed by leading Australian architect Alex Popov, the McIvor home boasts five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a wine cellar
