Adman Russel Howcroft moves on with $4.9m Hawthorn home sale

3AW Melbourne breakfast radio co-presenter Russel Howcroft and his wife Kate Burke have sold their Hawthorn family home for $4.9m, with plans to downsize closer to the city.

Russel Howcroft and his wife Kate Burke have sold their Hawthorn family home for $4.9m.

3AW Melbourne breakfast radio co-presenter Russel Howcroft and his wife Kate Burke have sold their Hawthorn family home for $4.9m, with plans to downsize closer to the city.

Their five-bedroom, four-bathroom Queen Anne-style abode had been listed with $4.8m to $5.2m price guidance from Kay & Burton.

The Riversdale Rd home was bought by the soon-to-be empty-nesters for $1m in 2002 when Howcroft was the founding partner at the advertising agency, Brandhouse Arnold Worldwide. The house was sold at the end of its expression of interest marketing campaign.

No success yet for another Hawthorn vendor, the Brisbane-based Virgin boss Jayne Hrdlicka, who has been seeking $17m to $18m for her five-bedroom, three-bathroom house since late October.

Crossakiel, her redundant Kooyongkoot Rd mansion, was bought in 2016 for $13m from Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation chairwoman Patricia Cross.

The expression of interest campaign for her grand home concluded on November 30 with the listing still on realestate.com.au having garnered 13,784 page views.

It was unsuccessfully listed in 2022 at $18,495,000 through Marshall White.

High on the hill

Coorabel, an elegant 1850s sandstone home in Sydney’s Hunters Hill, was the nation’s top advised weekend auction result at $8.5m.

The Didier Joubert-built home on Joubert St had come with a $6.5m buyers guide.

Set on 1334sq m, the French-inspired home has five bedrooms and three bathrooms under its slate roof. There is a wisteria-covered pergola for entertaining.

There are balcony views over the jacarandas to the Lane Cove River.

Coorabel in Sydney’s Hunters Hill was the nation’s top advised weekend auction result at $8.5m.

The marine villa, designed by Colonial Architect William Weaver, featured in the G. Nesta Griffith book, Some Houses and People of New South Wales, published in 1949. It sold through Eastern Suburbs Property agent Mark Gilden in conjunction with BresicWhitney.

Three of four registered bidders competed for the keys, with two still in the chase from $6.9m. The winning bidder then got on bended knee to offer a ring to renew his marriage with his excited wife, who had the bidding paddle, Mr Gilden said.

Coorabel last sold in 1996 for $1,037,000 when bought by then Minter Ellison managing partner Philip Clark and his wife Maria.

The Hunters Hill Trust notes Coorabel was the first home built by Joubert on land known as Figtree Farm, which had been bought from convict turned businesswoman Mary Reibey, who has graced the $20 note since 2019.

Hargrave house

Over in Point Piper the harbourfront home once owned by pioneer of aviation Lawrence Hargrave, who was on the $20 note issued in 1966, has been listed a $19m price guide through Sotheby’s.

The 1902 Arthur McCredie-designed Wunulla Rd address was his home until his 1915 death.

The National Museum of Australia has archive images of Hargrave launching box kites out front. The top floor three-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex has been listed by the Glasser watchmaker family, who bought it for $450,000 in 1981.

Clearing out

The first weekend of summer auctions saw the national preliminary auction clearance rate come in at 67 per cent, up on the prior week’s 65.9 per cent.

Tim Lawless at CoreLogic noted the revised final rate was down to 60.8 per cent after late sale updates.

It was the lowest final clearance rate so far this year, Lawless added.

Sydney’s Saturday was stable at 68 per cent with Melbourne at 64 per cent.

There were 24 luxury Sydney auction listings with price expectations of $5m or higher, including five in Mosman. Two were seeking $10m-plus.

None of the five were reported as sold. There are now 16 Mosman listings seeking $10m plus on realestate.com.au.

CoreLogic has recorded 29 sales at $10m or over so far this year compared to the 39 last year.

Canterbury tale

Melbourne likely saw its top sale in Canterbury when 21 Victoria Ave, a modernised two-storey John Beswicke-designed mansion, sold pre-auction having been listed with $6.9m to $7.5m guidance.

The home on Loch Street, St Kilda West, was bought for $6.86m.

Melbourne’s top advised weekend sale was $6.86m in St Kilda West.

The 1910 Arts and Crafts-style Loch St home had been modernised by Delany Architects with a rear contemporary, pavilion-like extension letting in the northern light.

The 570sq m property comes with magnesium pool plus an underground 5000 litre water tank.

It had been listed with $6.5m to $6.9m guidance through Jellis Craig agents Warwick Gardiner and Mack Burgoine.

The Jellis Craig office recently sold nearby Warrawee, a 1921 house on Mary St, St Kilda West post-auction for $3.96m.

Warrawee last sold unrenovated in 2018 for $1.8m, when bought by the Pace Development Group sales and marketing director Ashley Bramich and his wife ­Amanda.

It had been listed with $3.95m to $4.3m price guidance but passed in on a $4.1m vendor bid. Apparently an AFL Collingwood champion and an Olympic gold medallist attended the auction.

Another St Kilda West weekend offering was Wildoolfson at 122-124 Park St, an 1890s home with Nervegna-Reed Architecture renovation.

It was listed with $6.3m to $6.93m guidance, but no update was given in the McGrath auction results advisory. It remains on listing websites for sale in conjunction with Cayzer.

McGrath agent Rachael O’Connor had it listed initially in mid-August with $6.9m to $7.5m hopes. Set one block from the beach, it has two period houses joined by a glass atrium complete with chicken coop in its 865sq m grounds.

Adelaide on top

Adelaide continued to have the strongest capital city success rate, recording a preliminary clearance rate of 77.4 per cent, just up on Brisbane’s 76.1 per cent. Adelaide’s top sale was in Unley when Stephanie Williams at Williams Real Estate sold the 1890 bluestone-fronted villa at 47 Palmerston Rd for $2,725,000.

This Miami, Gold Coast, home fetched $3.8m.

Queensland’s top advised result was on the Gold Coast at Miami when $3.8m was paid for the architecturally-designed five bedroom, four bathroom home at 46 Messines Crescent through Stephen Weber at Ray White.

Prices rising

All capitals, except Darwin, recorded price rises in November, according to the November PropTrack Home Price Index. The national median dwelling value inched up in November by 0.22 per cent rise to $761,000. It was up 5.42 per cent annually, PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said.

The capital city median dwelling value was up monthly by 0.26 per cent to $823,000, up 6.54 per cent annually.

Across Australia, PropTrack are following 3587 scheduled auctions this week.