Australia’s largest annual property auction, The Event, saw more than $33 million in Gold Coast property change hands this week, with investors from outside Queensland leading the buying.

Forty-five of 105 properties on the order of sale at Ray White Surfers Paradise Group’s The Event sold under the hammer, with an additional 18 sold prior, bringing the clearance rate to 60 per cent. Negotiations are ongoing for the majority of remaining properties.

The result is an increase in both value and volume of sales on 2015, where 58 of 99 properties sold under the hammer or prior to auction for a total of about $20 million. 

The day’s highest priced sale was $1.2 million for an 875sqm site zoned for redevelopment at 544 Marine Parade, Biggera Waters. 

RWSP Group CEO Andrew Bell said about half of all registered bidders were from interstate, highlighting the value disparity that continues to exist between the Gold Coast and southern capital markets and the billions of dollars in public and private investment in the city.

"Almost every property researcher or commentator is backing the Gold Coast as one of the country’s top performing markets in 2016," he said. "Stacked up against Sydney and Melbourne, the Gold Coast is very affordable and because we’re still coming off a fairly low base there is more room for capital growth. Property investors are responding to this."

Bell said the strong clearance rate wasn’t surprising because "we’ve had a bumper January on the Gold Coast and with so many holidaymakers here, investor inquiry has been consistently strong."

About 2,000 people  attended The Event.