Labor MP Andrew Charlton lands $12m Palm Beach retreat
Andrew Charlton’s $12m purchase at the pricey coastal Sydney playground of Palm Beach with barrister wife Phoebe Arcus settled just ahead of the Easter break.
Federal Labor MP Andrew Charlton’s $12m purchase at the pricey coastal Sydney playground of Palm Beach with barrister wife Phoebe Arcus settled just ahead of the Easter break.
The official paperwork reveals the couple bought the luxury retreat without any registered mortgage.
The couple retain Fintry, a Bellevue Hill trophy home, but Charlton’s official residence is a $1.95m sub-penthouse apartment in his electorate at North Parramatta.
The economist, who made his fortune selling the AlphaBeta economic consulting and data analytics company to Accenture in 2020, sits on the House of Representatives economics committee, which regularly grills the Reserve Bank governor on interest rates as many people face cost-of-living issues.
The hilltop Pacific Place purchase ranks as the most expensive acquisition amid the 530 properties owned by the 227 federal members of the 47th parliament.
It highlights the emerging occurrence of property purchases being funded entirely with cash, escaping the direct impact of RBA decisions.
PEXA’s recent cash purchases report found cash funding accounted for 28.5 per cent of residential property sales in 2023 across the eastern states of NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Totalling $129.6bn, it was up from 25.6 per cent totalling $127.7bn in 2022.
Palm Beach does not appear among the 10 Sydney postcodes with the most cash purchases. The list is dominated by the affluent suburbs of 2088 (Mosman), 2000 (Sydney), 2027 (Darling Point), 2023 (Bellevue Hill) and 2026 (Bondi Beach).
Last year, 223 buyers purchased property in Mosman with cash, totalling $944m.
Postcode 2061 (Milsons Point) had Sydney’s highest proportion of 2023 cash purchases, at 52 per cent of all transactions.
“Cash-buyers are changing the dynamics of the residential property market and exerting a greater influence on overall property demand PEXA’s,” chief economist Julie Toth said.
“The relatively large size of this group helps to explain the property market’s resilience in 2023, despite rapid rises in interest rates.”
The report uses property settlement data collected via the PEXA digital property exchange.
Transfield chief settles
Transfield Holdings heir Luca Belgiorno-Nettis and wife Anita needed no mortgage when they also settled pre-Easter on Corymbia, a four-bedroom, four-bathroom hillside house at Palm Beach.
Their $12m purchase is a Susan Rothwell-designed abode on Pacific Rd built in 2007 on 700sq m with views towards Lion Island, Barrenjoey Headland and Pittwater.
But Nathan Orie, the Mosman-based head of trading at IMC Trading and wife Claire had Commonwealth Bank finance for their recent Palm Beach trophy home purchase. It also sold for $12m, having last sold for $4.75m in 2010.
Flood of boatsheds
Cash is typically paid when it comes to Melbourne’s bathing boxes and boatsheds.
There is currently a stack of boxes for sale on the Mornington Peninsula including boatshed 39 at Blairgowrie. Set close to the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, it has been listed with $379,000-$415,000 guidance through Tim Bradler of Belle Property.
“This is not a house and does not have a bedroom or bathroom,” Bradler stressed.
“Boatsheds do not possess a certificate of title as you do not own the land.
“They cannot be lived in, rented out or extended.
“The transfer of ownership is via a licence agreement with the Whitecliffs to Camerons Bight committee of management and a transfer fee of 5.5 per cent of the Capital Improved Value (CIV) or purchase price (whichever is the greater).”
A Mt Martha boatshed 117 has been listed for sale at $185,000-$199,000 through Kara James of Area Specialist.
“Beach boxes are traditionally held for decades and passed down through generations,” James said.
The orange box measures 15sq m, includes a 250L water tank.
An all-white Dromana boatshed is the priciest currently on the peninsula with $395,000-$430,000 guidance through Steve Edmund of Belle Property.
Away from the Mornington Peninsula, a Werribee South boatshed has been listed for sale at $165,000-$175,000 through Lachlan Cron of O’Brien Real Estate. Cron has described 63 Campbells Cove Rd as “needing some love” in the listing.
The cheapest Victorian listing is a boat landing and boatshed at Nelson on the Glenelg River in the far southwestern corner of the state. It has been offered at $85,000 through Nicole Mojonnier of Assets Real Estate Portland.
The three-berth wooden boat shed is one of the largest landing sites. A recently refurbished 4.4m timber boat is included in the price.
There were three water site sales last year with buyers advised the fire track holdings on crown land came with a yearly lease of less than a dollar a day granted by the Glenelg River Committee.
Coastal auction pulled
The Mornington Peninsula had the priciest scheduled Easter prestige coastal auction, but Sorrento listing Ferndale Cottage, at 3461 Point Nepean Rd, was pulled.
It has a $2,995,000 asking price through Marshall White agents Geoff Hall and Ilze Moran, who initially sought $3.2m-$3.5m.
It was on the market last spring without success with another agency.
The restored and extended 1898 three-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage retains its original character on its 1405sq m holding. It last sold for $200,000 in 1999.
Easter eases activity
Auction activity dropped off given the Easter long weekend, with just 1003 homes heading to auction nationally, down from close to 4000 in the busy full week prior.
Sydney saw the most homes auctioned, with 355 scheduled, followed by Melbourne with 277, PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said.
CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless calculated the listings just fell short of Easter 2022, being the second busiest Easter on record. It calculated the national weekend preliminary auction clearance rate came in at 71.1 per cent across the combined capitals, buoyed by Sydney at 77.8 per cent, its highest preliminary result since mid-February. Adelaide’s 78.8 per cent was the strongest result.
Auction activity will pick up again this week, with 2645 planned, particularly in Sydney, where a Super Saturday of 1000-plus auctions is expected,Flaherty noted. There are 890 expected in Melbourne, 128 in Adelaide, 123 in Brisbane, and 139 elsewhere in Queensland.
In the week ending April 14, Melbourne resumes being the busiest auction capital with 928 auctions, narrowly ahead of the 926 in Sydney.
One of the priciest forthcoming auctions has been listed by Tony Bawden, the Gold Coast-based founder of home builder Villa World, and wife Terry at Stanhill Drive, Chevron Island through Kolloshe Prestige.
Gold Coast architect John Lea designed the single-storey, three-bedroom home on Main River in 2004.
The couple have decided to downsize from the 2024sq m holding to a beachfront apartment.
“We are sad to be leaving. It has been a comfortable place to live,” Terry Bawden said.
“Tony and I have travelled the world, but no matter where we stayed, we were always happy to come back to our home.”
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