Ian Thorpe relists his luxury Woollahra townhouse at a discount

Olympic legend Ian Thorpe returned his Woollahra townhouse to the market on Wednesday with newly set price hopes that reflect the changing fortunes of Sydney’s property market.

At the halfway mark to this year’s spring selling season a guide of $3.5 million has been set ahead of the November 7 auction, down from more bullish hopes of almost $4 million a year ago.

The Woollahra townhouse of Ian Thorpe is scheduled for auction on November 7.

The five-time gold medallist returns to the market as Sydney’s auction clearance rate fell to 62 per cent last long weekend, according to Domain data, down from the more bullish 72 per cent clearance rates of Spring last year.

Thorpe has owned the four-bedroom residence – one of six townhouses in a converted colonial manor – since late 2017, paying $2.75 million at the time to bodybuilder Paul Graham and his wife Carole, owners of Muscle & Fitness Australia.

Soon after he had listed the townhouse, title records revealed he had purchased in Edgecliff’s landmark 1960s-built Arlington complex, paying $2.79 million for a two-storey spread.

Ian Thorpe has already purchased in Edgecliff’s landmark Arlington complex.Credit: Nine

When Thorpe’s townhouse didn’t sell it was withdrawn from the market, and relisted this week with Ray White Double Bay’s Warren Ginsberg and Jordan L’Estrange.

The three-level townhouse with 250 square metres of living space comes with a double garage, and recently redesigned interiors by Ridgway Sassella interior design firm. The complex shares a heated swimming pool.

CoreLogic data shows the median house price in Woollahra is down 2.6 per cent in the year to September from a high of $4.7 million last spring to $4.6 million.

Sydney’s luxury property market has been slow to respond to a series of rapid-fire interest rates rises by the Reserve Bank of Australia that saw interest rates rise from 0.1 per cent in May 2022 to 4.35 per cent by last year.

Ian Thorpe’s Woollahra townhouse has four bedrooms, of which one is a play room.

Thorpe retired from swimming in 2006, having been the youngest individual world swimming champion when he won the 400-metre freestyle at the 1998 World Aquatics Championship, and the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Discounting has been prevalent across the eastern suburbs this year in order to secure a sold sticker.

In Vaucluse, the designer home of Sean Katz, co-founder and chairman of alternative investment platform AltX, and his wife Bonita was put up for sale early this year with $29 million hopes after they purchased a beachfront house in Watsons Bay for $33 million.

The MHN Design Union residence of Sean and Bonita Katz sold for more than the $19.5 million guide.Credit: Domain

When it didn’t sell it was relisted recently with Bradfield BadgerFox’s Peter Leipnik and Alexander George with a revised guide of $19.5 million.

Neither agent would disclose the sale price, saying only that it was north of the guide.