John Symond forced to drop price on Knightsbridge apartment to $79m

Retired mortgage broker John Symond has again lowered the asking price on his luxury apartment in London’s upscale Knightsbridge, and it is now on the market for $79m.

Retired mortgage broker John Symond has lowered the asking price for his Knightsbridge, London apartment to £40m.

Retired mortgage broker John Symond has lowered the asking price on his luxury apartment in London’s Knightsbridge to £40m ($79m).

It initially had a £50m asking price in early 2024, two weeks after announcing his separation from his wife Amber.

Symond first dropped the asking price last September to £46.5m during Britain’s autumn sales season.

The London prestige market has been adversely impacted by the higher stamp duty land tax introduced in the Keir Starmer government’s first budget last October for non-UK-resident individuals and companies.

John Symond.

Located close to Harrods, the six-bedroom, six-bathroom residence is spread over four floors. It occupies the first two floors of the building and two levels below with 11,500 square feet of space. It comes with four parking spots in the underground garage with an elevator, plus a waiting room for chauffeurs.

The couple, who married in 2016, moved to London in 2017, then briefly listed his Wingadal, Point Piper waterfront mansion with $100m-plus hopes, as they then intended to spend much of their time sailing the Mediterranean on the yacht Hasna.

But Hasna was sold in 2020 and Symond later said he had “probably rushed into the decision” to list Wingadal.

The Alec Tzannes-designed four-level home returned to the market last May with consistent $200m-plus hopes. There has been considerable interest from potential buyers, especially as the Australian dollar is weak.

“Wingadal has been a special home for my family over the past two decades, and now I’m looking forward to spending more time travelling overseas,” Symond said on its May listing.

It subsequently emerged the family has bought Roc et Mer, a home on the Mediterranean at Eze-sur-Mer, between Nice and Monaco, for €13.75m ($22.4m). The purchase was in the names of his two children, Stephen Symond and Deborah O’Neil.

While renting in Mosman, Amber, the creative director of fashion label Common Hours, continues converting the former Denis Savill art gallery into her home. There has been no start on her mooted conversion of the $12.5m historic Simpsons Hotel, Potts Point into a residence.

Getting busy

Some 1972 auctions were held over the last week across the Australian capital cities, up from 1670 a week ago. Numbers are set to rise to 2450 this week, according to Tim Lawless at CoreLogic.

Clearance rates have also been on an upwards trend, with the preliminary national capital city clearance rate at 71 per cent, the first time above the 70 per cent mark since early spring last year.

“Similarly, the final clearance rate from a week ago reached 64.2 per cent, the highest since the first week of September 2024,” Lawless said.

$18.5m on the coast

A Gold Coast local spent $18.5m in the weekend’s priciest auction sale at Cronin Island in Surfers Paradise.

The five-bedroom, eight-bathroom Bayden Goddard-designed riverfront home was sold by Michael Kollosche and Jamie Harrison at Kollosche Broadbeach.

There were 13 registered bidders for the Friday morning auction of the home on three blocks on the Main River.

The nation’s top advised sale was $18.5m at Cronin Island in Surfers Paradise.

Apollo Auctions director Justin Nickerson took a $10m opening bid after rejecting three pre-auction offers. It was announced on the market at $18.3m.

The concrete home set over three levels on its 2221sq m Southern Cross Drive holding was sold by Kylie Hough, who took on directorship last October of the Paul Ng medical business.

Its third storey includes two executive-level office spaces.

It has a rooftop terrace, a tennis court and a resort-style pool with views that stretch west and east.

Manic Melbourne

Melbourne was the busiest capital last week, with 845 homes for sale, up from 675 a week ago. Its preliminary clearance rate nudged to 70.7 per cent, its highest since last September.

About 1100 homes are scheduled for auction this week, Lawless says.

But with few prestige offerings in the typical auction engine room suburbs, Melbourne’s top weekend sale was $4.27m in Essendon.

The five-bedroom, five-bathroom, 2018-built house sold through Christian Lonzi at Jellis Craig Moonee Valley. It sits amid Jade Design landscaping on its 874sq m holding.

Melbourne’s top weekend sale was in Essendon.

The next highest sale, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), was $3.26m in Hampton. There had been $2.6m to $2.75m guidance for the five-bedroom 11 Teddington Road offering.

Sydney shines

Sydney had 796 auctions last week, and around 1000 homes scheduled for this week. The preliminary clearance rate bounced up to 76.6 per cent, its highest since last July.

Burwood’s Mona, an 1888 Italianate mansion, fetched $7m. The Ethel Street home had been listed with $5.9m guidance.

Ariadne, the unrestored Mount Street, Coogee bungalow with a grand sandstone staircase, fetched $6.3m.

A contemporary Coogee house constructed for clients of builder Joey Pamment fetched $6.8m, having had $5.5m guidance.

There was a $6.35m sale of the 1950s house at 229 Boyce Road, Maroubra through Alexander Phillips at PPD. It had been given $6m guidance when listed for the first time since construction.

A five-bedroom, five-bathroom home at 39 Newton Road, Strathfield went under offer on auction eve at around $8.4m. The 1990s home on 1416sq m had sold for $7.5m in May 2023.

Brisbane’s best

Across the smaller auction markets, Brisbane led with 152 homes taken to auction, returning a 57 per cent preliminary clearance rate. Its top sale was the five-bedroom home at 154 Yabba Street, Ascot for $5.8m through Ray White agent Josh Brown.

The 1920 Queenslander had been updated by architect Ian Webb.

Adelaide hosted 111 auctions, recording 61 per cent preliminary clearance rate. Some 59 auctions were held in the ACT, returning a 60 per cent preliminary success rate.

Undies on parade

The most viewed residential listing on realestate.com.au last week was the modernist home at 12 Fyfe Court, Trigg.

The Undies Beach House in Perth was the top viewed home last week on realestate.com.au.

It’s known as Perth’s Undies Beach House, given its proximity to the local beach known as ­Undies.

Haiven Property North Beach agents Sean and Jenny Hughes and Oliver Hess have $3m to $4m expectations ahead of this week’s expression of interest deadline. It was completed in 2023 in white-painted face bricks by Angie and Trent Alexander, who engaged architect Meaghan White for its design.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house was built by Mitchell Custom Homes.

It comes with a feature wall of Adam Goodrum breeze blocks.

There’s also a fireplace with a statement sky-high white brick chimney.