$13m in Hunters Hill after a five-decade delay
A charming Hunters Hill riverfront home, tightly held for over 50 years, has been sold on auction eve for $13m, in the nation’s top weekend sales result.
A charming Hunters Hill riverfront home, tightly held for more than five decades, has been sold on auction eve for $13m, in the nation’s top weekend sales result. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom Viret St home came with a $12m price guide.
Set on a 1262sq m block, the property sold through recent recruits Matt and Claire Ward at the ASX-listed McGrath agency.
Boasting a mix of Federation and Arts and Crafts architecture with a deep wraparound timber veranda, it had secured over 10,000 page views on realestate.com.au.
It had been the home of the late Bob Mostyn, the former managing director of the family business Craig Mostyn and Co, which started as tannery and leather exporters in the 1920s before exporting fresh fruit and seafood.
The home last sold at $71,600 in 1966.
The nation’s top under-the-hammer result was $9m in Vaucluse when 61 Hopetoun Ave sold, after $8.3m guidance from Alexander Phillips at PPD. Despite there being a two-year lease remaining on the property, there were five registered bidders for the house, which had last sold $5.4m in May 2020. It was among 10 houses Phillips sold last week, including a $6.75m Bronte house that had sold during the 2021 lockdown at $6.25m.
Luxury listings
Sydney saw a spurt in the number of prestige listings, with 31 offerings priced at or above $5m for weekend auction. Melbourne had just the two, in Carlton and Malvern East, while Brisbane had just the one.
But the nation’s priciest weekend offering was a non-event when the dress circle Wolaroi Cres, Tamarama trophy home of international events producer Antony Spanbrook and his partner Chris Yeo was pulled on auction eve.
It came with $21.5m price guidance through ASX-listed The Agency, whose agent Ben Collier was conducting his second failed marketing campaign for the Tony Masters-designed house.
Collier has been bemoaning potential buyers going through the “fear of making a mistake (FoMM)”, the latest of silly real estate-speak acronyms.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house was built for Rubicon founder Gordon Fell and his wife Pip, who sold it pre-auction in 2004 for $6.1m.
Class apartment
The nation’s top under-the-hammer apartment result was $7.56m for the Milsons Point apartment of Wallis Wu, daughter of one of China’s top property developers, “Frank” Po Sum Wu, the former billionaire founder of the Hong Kong-listed Central China.
It traded at $8m, mortgage-free in 2021, when bought by Wu and her mother Lam Li Wu, who has owned on the Kirribilli harbourfront since 1999.
There were just two bidders; another registered bidder who did not participate.
“This is a bargain at this price,” selling agent Nigel Mukhi noted as he unsuccessfully sought further bidding.
Melbourne misses
Melbourne’s priciest offering, 10 Central Park Rd, Malvern East, was passed in on a $5.6m vendor bid, below its $5.7m to $6m guidance from Michael Cooney at Hodges.
There were two registered bidders but no sale when 135 Drummond St, Carlton was auctioned. The imposing four-bedroom, three-bathroom, double-storey, double-fronted home, often regarded as Carlton’s grandest residence since its construction in the 1850s, had come with $5.25m to $5.75m guidance from Nicholas Corby at Jellis Craig.
Last sold at $875,000 in 1998, it now has a $5.75m asking price. It was built by colonial hotelier Patrick Costello, the great-great-grandfather of Peter and Tim Costello.
The heritage-listed property, initially with five rooms, kitchen, stables and loft, valued at £65, has been extended while keeping many of its period features, including cornices and fireplaces.
Sale of the sanctuary
A Surrey Hills house that sold for $5,070,000 topped Victoria’s third consecutive Super Saturday.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house at 6 Payne St had been listed with $4.1m to $4.5m guidance from Tamsin Curcio at Shelter. There were 15,800 page views on realestate.com.au.
The opening bid was $3.95m, but rapid-fire bids took the price well beyond. It was announced on the market at $4.71m.
It was marketed as a “contemporary barn-inspired residence where the concept of Red Hill in Surrey Hills is sublimely achieved.” There are city skyline views from its upper level.
The $4.6m sale at 98 Armstrong St, Middle Park, was Melbourne’s next most expensive revealed sale.
Auctions steady
CoreLogic tracked a steady 2285 auctions across the capitals over the past week. The holding pattern also saw its preliminary national clearance rate hover around 71 per cent.
Adelaide at 88.9 per cent was the strongest and Canberra at 53 per cent the weakest.
Adelaide’s top result was the three-bedroom 1910 villa at 5 Methuen St, Fitzroy that sold for $2.4m pre-auction through Georgie Todd at Harris Real Estate, having last sold at $1.65m in October 2020.
Melbourne’s clearance rate was 71 per cent and Sydney sat at 73 per cent, with Tim Lawless at CoreLogic noting they were “demonstrating a healthy balance between vendor and buyer pricing expectations.”
Brisbane was at 59 per cent, with Ray White agents Brandon Wortley and Matt Lancashire securing the top result of $5.85m for 42 Stewart St, Hawthorne.
Three of the six registered bidders were active in the auction, which took over an hour, before being sold to a family from north Queensland, who were bidding over the phone.
The agents conducted over 200 inspections of the 1910 cottage, redesigned and rebuilt by Invilla Architects and Corella Construction.
The sellers, Tim and Tegun Geary featured their recent renovation in the At Home section of Mansion in the Weekend Australian. The couple had previously lived in the property behind the home and had long imagined its potential. The former owner passed away and it was purchased for $2,535,000 when sold for the first time in 111 years in 2021.
Island dream
Tasmania’s Picnic Island has been listed through Knight Frank Hobart and Sotheby’s International by the superannuation fund of the entrepreneurial former Victorian politician Clem Newton-Brown, after 20 years’ ownership.
The island, which measures 6753sq m, close to Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula, traded at $39,000 in 2002, according to CoreLogic. It now has a copper-clad lodge that can accommodate 10 people.
More Coverage
