Covid relief spurs Mosman sales

Sydney’s Mosman mansion market is showing signs of surpassing pre-coronavirus crisis levels.

Designed by French architect, Guy de Compiegne, 14 Euryalus Street has spectacular, north facing 180-degree water views across seven suburbs from Clontarf to Cammeray.

Sydney’s Mosman mansion market is showing signs of surpassing pre-coronavirus crisis levels as buyers seek out the best properties in the blue ribbon suburb.

The sought-after harbourside suburb has seen a flurry of sales before the traditional Christmas slow down with wealthy buyers diving in after coming through the worst of the crisis.

This year, the buying period has extended and the top end of the market is expected to roll on through January as purchasers seeking to upgrade seek out larger homes while confined to Australia by border closures.

Real estate agents report that prices are running at more than 10 per cent above levels they were before the crisis struck and the market is well past a brief hiccup when the pandemic struck.

The big drivers include exceptionally low interest rates, a shortage of stock and a realisation that asset prices including in the share market are on the rise.

Richard Simeon, principal of Mosman specialist Simeon Partners, points to a number of larger sales that have put a base under the market.

Childcare mogul Brendan McAssey was one to get the ball rolling with the sale of an Alex Popov-designed house close to Balmoral Beach for $20m.

He bought it for $17.3m four years ago and it was snapped up by another Balmoral local in a record deal for a non-waterfront home by Belle Property’s Tim Foote after three days on the block.

44 Spencer Road, Mosman.

This was followed by the sale of 10 Redan Street, pitched as world class renovation on the ­Balmoral slopes, with that home selling through real estate agents Geoff Smith and Richard ­Harding of Ray White.

That mansion sports Balmoral views from its upper level with the renovation connecting its living areas to outdoor entertaining spaces on about 900sq m of landscaped lawns and gardens.

The home was curated by leading interior designer, Hugh-Jones Mackintosh Design, and the landscaping by designer Richard Unsworth.

Another classic Mosman home at 49 The Esplanade sold for $17.8m last month via Belle Property with that four bedroom home also attracting strong bidding. “A big shift has been the Chinese buyers aren’t there,” Simeon says. “It’s been local people coming along and taking it out,” he adds.

On his reckon the market was briefly shaken by the arrival of COVID-19 and forecasters assumed a drop in price of 10 to 15 per cent.

But he says this was premature and buyers mainly sat it out and now there was a push to enjoy top end living.

“Money is also cheap and forecast to stay that way for four years.”

The suburb is already a hub-bub of renovations and building projects prompting people keen for better accommodation to buy. “You can’t get builders,” Simeon says and he expects more sales as the sharemarket bounces back.

21 Morella Road, Mosman

Overall the luxury apartment and housing sector has jumped 15-20 per cent and he says the top end buyers seem more comfortable in breaking the $10m barrier.

“There is a lot of money sitting in the market waiting,” he says.

Simeon is selling a home at 14 Euryalus Street that is pitched as a classic by French architect, Guy de Compiegne, with spectacular, north facing 180-degree water views across seven suburbs from Clontarf to Cammeray.

The three-storey home has four oversized bedrooms and treats including a gourmet chef’s kitchen with Gaggenau appliances and expansive light filled living and dining zones.

Outside lush gardens sit alongside a 9m tiled swimming pool. The asking price for the home is $7.5m to $8m.

Simeon says properties on Spencer Road have also leapt in value with rises of about 20 per cent in a year on his reckoning.

“I think everyone is under pitching,” he says.

“That mid-market may be 20 per cent up.”

He is confident this will spread up the scale and recently sold a home at 21 Morella Road with panoramic northeast views over Chowder Bay and across Sydney Harbour.

The four-bedroom home on Clifton Gardens Reserve sold for $7.31m last week through Simeon and colleague Adette Cao.

Simeon says there is a bit of scope for sales over the next couple of weeks and says that Mosman has never had a January where most people are around, which may see more activity, with buyers now also up from Melbourne.