Atlassian’s Scott Farquhar in hunt for $95m Point Piper stunner Edgewater
A $95m Point Piper harbourfront property – shrouded in mystery after a reputed three-year extended settlement deal in 2020 – is back in play, and likely to emerge as this year’s priciest sale.
A $95m Point Piper harbourfront property – shrouded in mystery after a reputed three-year extended settlement deal in 2020 – is back in play, and likely to emerge as this year’s priciest sale.
The Wolseley Rd whisper mill suggests Edgewater could soon be the home of Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and his wife, investment banker Kim Jackson.
Competing Bids gathers Farquhar has been dealing directly with the gold mining tycoon “John” Changjin Li, who secured occupancy of the dress circle property, along with 2023 delayed settlement purchase terms. Li wants to flick on the $95m sale contract he has with the longtime owners, Katies fashion retail chain founder Joe Brender and his wife Gerda, who shared the duplex with his late business partner Sam Moss and his wife Agi.
The duo had bought Edgewater in 1984 from entertainment industry promoter Michael Edgley.
It comes with a 40m harbour frontage with tennis court and deepwater jetty directly in front of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
If it all goes to plan the purchase by the Farquhar family will see them vacate their current rental property, Barford on Bellevue Hill.
It will also open up options on what to do with their near-derelict Seven Shillings Beach, Double Bay property Elaine, which has sat idle since their $71m purchase in 2017 from John B Fairfax. They quietly pulled their $37m plans for a striking three storey abode with rooftop tennis court in 2020.
The official Australian record remains $100m, paid by his business partner MikeCannon-Brookes and his wife Annie for Fairwater, the former Fairfax publishing family mansion next door to Elaine.
Li dismisses it as a “crazy” Sydney rumour saying he “does not know Scott Farquhar.” Since publication of the rumour, Li has advised he will be keeping the property.
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Hawthorn’s highest
Cotton On boss Peter Johnson secured a bullish $5.33m in Hawthorn East, the nation’s priciest revealed under-the-hammer weekend auction result.
The Bethune St auction, which attracted six bidders, saw the house called on the market at $4.55m.
The listing was looking good from the first open-for-inspection conducted last month by Marshall White agent James Tostevin, who had 41 groups through the remodelled five-bedroom home.
The price expectations jumped to $4.2m-$4.6m during its marketing campaign, from the initial $4m-$4.4m reported price hopes.
The property, bought for $2.73m with wife Kim in 2011, features a solar-heated pool with a pool house on its 743sq m holding. The update lodged with Boroondara Council had a $200,000 costing in 2012.
Melbourne’s next priciest sale was $4.5m in nearby Hawthorn. The modern home behind its traditional Spanish Mission facade sits on a 613sq m holding on The Boulevard. It last sold at $1.71m in December 2012.
Both offerings were among the top three homes with the most views on realestate.com.au, in the prior seven days across Victoria.
Melbourne had its busiest auction week since June, with 1182 auctions. Of the 946 results collected so far by CoreLogic, 59 per cent were successful, down from the prior week’s 62 per cent preliminary clearance rate, which was revised down to 58 per cent at final figures.
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$7.2m in Abbotsford.
There was a $7.2m auction eve sale of a riverfront in Sydney’s Abbotsford. The four-bedroom home with sandy beach on The Terrace was sold by Ray White agent James Natoli, having last sold at $3.6m in 2012. The freestanding three-storey residence sits on 647sq m.
There were also numerous pre-auction sales secured at undisclosed prices, including Wallaby legend and third generation hotelier Bill Young’s Northwood trophy home Yandama. It had advised $14m hopes when its marketing began back in October. The six-bedroom home on 2175sq m with pool and tennis court was built in 1996 by Brian Huxley, one of the Huxley Homes founding brothers. The downsizing Young and wife Anna are off to the Gold Coast.
Some 960 homes were scheduled for auction in Sydney in the past week, the busiest since May. Of the 735 results collected by CoreLogic, 58 per cent were successful, down from the prior week’s preliminary clearance rate of 64 per cent, which revised to 59 per cent at final figures.
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No deal in Paddington
Sydney’s priciest weekend offering not to find a buyer was the Paddington abode of Michael van der Griend, a gynaecologist at North Shore Private Hospital.
There was just one $9.5m vendor bid for the home, designed by architect Alec Tzannes.
The HIA 2010 award-winning home offers 400sq m of living space, designed around a central Peter Fudge-designed garden on a double-sized corner block. The price guidance had been $9m from BresicWhitney agent Maclay Longhurst.
The Sutherland St offering had last sold in December 2013 at $5.6m when bought by his wife, Solveigh van der Griend.
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Higher volumes
Across the smaller capital cities, Adelaide has recorded the nation’s strongest preliminary clearance rate at 65.5 per cent, followed by Canberra (57 per cent) and Brisbane (41 per cent).
It was a weekend when heightened volumes prompted weaker clearance rates.
Not unexpectedly, the national capital city clearance rate dipped to 57.9 per cent, its lowest preliminary level since July.
The 2667 offerings made it the busiest auction week since May, which came just as the Reserve Bank announced the first of its eight consecutive increases to the cash rate.
The week’s tally represented a four percentage point drop on the prior week’s 61.9 per cent preliminary clearance rate, revising down to 57.8 per cent at final figures.
“Once the remaining results are collected, the final clearance rate will likely hold below 60 per cent for the third consecutive week,” Tim Lawless at CoreLogic advised.
PropTrack’s count around the country, including capital city and the regions, sees some 2800 scheduled to be taken to auction this week, down on the 3000 of last week.
Anne Flaherty, the PropTrack economist, also calculates there are 434 auction hopefuls in the week leading up to the Christmas weekend.
And yes, there are some Christmas eve auctions including a newly built townhouse at Bass Hill through Raine & Horne agent Charlie Wakim.
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Rosmarins’ retreat
Plenty of pre-Christmas settlements are under way, including the Southern Highlands weekender of Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and her husband Rodney Rosmarin which settled last week at $3.95m.
Their 1915 mansion Rose Manor at Bowral sold to a South Australian couple Darren Seeley, who heads Global Pump Holdings, and his wife Pru, who are upgrading from the Bowral home they bought in 2020 for $1.45m.
The Rosmarins purchased the 2762sq m estate in 2009 for $2.25m. The seven-bedroom Merrigang Street residence took over a year to find its buyer before its early August exchange.
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