Joe Hockey’s childhood home with harbour views sells for about $7.5m

Joe Hockey’s childhood home has sold for about $7.5 million after an almost year-long search for a buyer.

The 1950s Northbridge brick house, which has views of Middle Harbour, was in the family for 55 years, where Joe Hockey and his three siblings grew up with their parents Beverley and Richard.

Joe Hockey’s childhood home sold for the first time in 55 years.Credit:

Hockey’s late father was a Palestinian immigrant of Armenian descent who arrived in Australia in 1948 and set up delicatessens in Bondi, then Chatswood, before starting a real estate agency in Naremburn in 1969. That same year he bought the Northbridge home for $27,200, records show.

The new owner remains unknown, but it is believed the three-storey home, within moments of the local sailing club, harbour baths and less than 30 minutes from the CBD, sold for about $7.5 million through Brad Pillinger, of Pillinger Double Bay and Karl Hockey of Hockey’s – that is, Richard’s firm, Richard’s grandson and Joe Hockey’s nephew – who initially listed the property late last year.

It was a bumpy road in finding a buyer for the property, which failed to sell when it was re-listed recently through McGrath with a guide of $7.3 million to $7.7 million.

The home was bought by Hockey’s late father Richard for $27,200, records show.Credit:

Despite that, the final price, to be revealed on settlement, was an impressive increase in value, the Hockey estate having grown about 275 times in five and a half decades. The exponential figure beggars belief and it’s a residence that hardly anyone with a “good job” could afford to purchase – even if they weren’t a first home buyer as Joe Hockey infamously said to home-owning hopefuls almost a decade ago.

The former treasurer, and his investment banker wife Melissa Babbage, is still not far from where he grew up. The couple bought into Hunters Hill, paying $7,815,000 in 2018 for the historic Wybalena House.

Bingo, another house sale

Meanwhile, Tony Tartak, of the billionaire Bingo Industries family, and his wife Mary have finally sold their luxury inner-west home before auction through McGrath’s Tarun Sethi.

Sethi remained tight-lipped about the price, though the home was guided at $6.5 million.

The home of Tony and Mary Tartak has sold. Credit:

The seven-bedroom, four-bathroom residence on a little over 1000 square metres – majority owned by Mary, with a 1 per cent share held by son Nathan – had been wholly rebuilt since the purchase in 2009 for $1.7 million.

Among several high-end finishes and features, the home including a games rooms, a wet bar, cabana and a terrace with an outdoor shower.

The sale comes just months after son Daniel, the former Bingo boss, was sentenced to 400 hours of community service, fined $100,000 and disqualified from running companies for five years after he pleaded guilty to price-fixing in waste services.

The Tartak family own half a dozen properties in the Strathfield area, although Daniel sold his nearby home in October for $8.8 million to BigCommerce co-founder Eddie Machaalani.

Rose Bay stunner

No details were spared on the high-end Rose Bay home that had a $40 million guide.Credit:

In Rose Bay, a sold sticker has gone up on the stunning house of property company director David Pacanowski and wife Maxine. No detail was spared on the high-spec Studio Johnson-designed five-bedroom, five-bathroom home, which took six years to build, according to listing agent Paul Biller of Biller Property.

The luxury house’s long list of features includes a self-cleaning heated swimming pool, internal lift, state-of-the-art marble kitchen with Wolf appliances and home automation with a phone control smart system.

Biller remained tight-lipped on what the property sold for, but the guide was $40 million.

Pet food king’s new lodgings

Former pet food company boss David Grant and his wife Lerida have settled on new lodgings following the sale of their $30 million home on Balmoral slopes.

The couple has paid $13.85 million for a Mosman house with six bedrooms, city views, rumpus room, cellar, gymnasium, separate office and swimming pool. What is often known as a real downsizer. It was sold by Ray White’s Geoff Smith and Geoff Allan, having last traded in 2005 for $4 million.

Equestrian adventure

Film producer Claire Jensz and her film writer and director husband John Raftopoulos have settled on an equestrian property in the Byron Bay hinterland for $7.8 million.

Alfred Lodge, which has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, is on 18 hectares.Credit:

The 18-hectare property in Coopers Shoot, known as Alfred Lodge, was sold by racehorse owner Greg Nash and his wife Amanda Chadwick.

Jensz and Raftopoulos, whose love story inspired the romantic drama Take My Hand starring Radha Mitchell, Adam Demos and Natalie Bassingthwaighte, sold their Wategos Beach house late last year for $17 million to entrepreneur, Boost Juice founder and Shark Tank star Janine Allis.