New brooms clean up for $6.61m in Sydney ‘witch house’ in Annandale
Sydney’s top weekend auction saw $6.61m paid in Annandale for a heritage listing that had failed to sell last year when listed with overly ambitious $8.5m hopes.
Sydney’s top weekend auction saw $6.61m paid in Annandale for a heritage listing that had failed to sell last year when listed with overly ambitious $8.5m hopes.
Three buyers registered to bid for the towering Victorian Italianate offering, having been given revised $6m price guidance. It last sold 44 years ago for $110,000.
The home, with period features including cornices, architraves, soaring ceilings and bay windows, sold to a family from Hunters Hill who intend to commute between their country and city residences.
The seven-bedroom, three-bathroom home was bough by the late artist Georgina Beier and Ulrich, her professor of literature husband, in 1978. She was known as the founding mother of contemporary art in Papua New Guinea.
The couple lived in PNG, Nigeria, India, Germany and Australia over their lifetimes. The house was sold by their sons, Sebastian and Tunji.
With around 348sq m of space, the house came with a working studio for their mother.
The 1100sq m holding is one of the largest blocks in the inner west suburb.
It is one of the Johnston St “witches houses”, so-called because the spires resemble witches’ hats.
Sydney’s next priciest auction – among the revealed results – was a $5.711m sale in Coogee.
The auction of the federation home at 16 Powell St saw three of the four registered bidders compete for the keys. It sold to a local young family who were upsizing.
There was an undisclosed sale at Palm Beach with a hillside Pacific Rd offering that had been listed with $7.5m hopes.
The house had been redesigned by architect Steven Domoney.
There were 915 auctions held across Sydney over the last week, compared to 1109 over the prior week and 1164 this time last year. Of the 708 results collected so far by CoreLogic, 59 per cent were successful, down from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 62 per cent, which was revised down to 56 per cent at final figures.
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Right on Kew
The nation’s top advised sale was a Kew home which sold ahead of its scheduled weekend auction for $7,575,000.
The price guide for the five-bedroom home on 1189sq m was $6.5m to $7m, from Marshall White agents Nick Ptak and Elsa Li. The three-level home, set within the Sackville estate, came with full-size tennis court. The property last sold at $505,000 in 1987.
Melbourne’s next highest revealed result was $5.5m in Albert Park, a post-auction sale.
The freestanding 1908 Kerferd Rd Federation residence was sold through Simon Cowling at Jellis Craig, whose price guide had been $5.2m to $5.5m. It had last sold in 1975 at $55,000.
There was no price reveal when elsewhere in Albert Park, Glenrowan, a double-fronted solid-brick Victorian residence on Greig St sold post-auction after being passed in at $4.7m.
The price guide had been $4.6m to $4.9m. The house last sold in 2016 at $3,755,000 when Western Bulldogs player Mitch Wallis and wife Emily topped the four bidders. The couple, who had some help from the bank of mum and dad, recently had their second child.
This time there was just the one bidder, buyers agent Mal James from James Buy Sell noted, adding only five of 32 prestige home auctions had found buyers on the weekend.
“There were more auctions than bidders,” James advised his clients.
“Auctions, for now, are not really auctions.
“Around 60 per cent of auctions covered over the last three weeks were like public private sales – only one bidder and nobody else, or non-sales,” he said.
James said the prestige inner Melbourne market had been weakening since November and continued to fall in May, although there was still wealth seeking A-grade homes above $8m.
In Melbourne, 1235 homes were taken to auction last week, down from 1478 over the previous week. Of the 1006 results collected so far by CoreLogic, 61 per cent have been successful, down from the previous week’s 63 per cent preliminary clearance rate, which revised down to 60 per cent at final figures.
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Adelaide in the clear
Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide recorded the highest preliminary auction clearance rate at 75 per cent, followed by Canberra at 71 per cent and Brisbane at 65 per cent.
Adelaide was the busiest auction market this week with 211 homes taken to auction across the city, followed by Brisbane (133) and Canberra’s 125 offerings, including the nation’s cheapest sale at $380,000 in Hawker.
The two-bedroom 5/28 Springvale Drive sold through LJ Hooker. It last sold at $200,000 in July 2020.
Melbourne saw a $385,000 sale when a one-bedroom apartment sold at Reservoir. The 3/1 Mattea Court offering had last sold at $320,000 in 2018.
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West End wonder
A grand 1925 Queenslander by the river at West End was Brisbane’s top sale at $4.35m. The extensively renovated Orleigh St home had four bedrooms and last sold at $1,975,000 in 2015.
The family home set over three levels came with tropical pool on its 739sq m riverfront reserve block.
Its renovation was overseen by Tim Cronin.
It sold through Angus Commins and Danielle Hughes Brown at SPACE Property.
Subdued market
As the winter sales market gets under way, the national final clearance rate for the last week of autumn was revised down to 59 per cent, the lowest level since last August.
“It is likely to hold below 60 per cent again once the remaining results are collected,” Eliza Owen at CoreLogic forecast.
This time last year the clearance rate was 70 per cent across the combined capital cities.
PropTrack expects auction offerings to drop in the week ahead, given the Labour Day long weekend in NSW and Victoria. There are just 1710 auctions nationally this week. This will jump to 2600 in the following week, when Melbourne will have some 1200 auctions, according to Cameron Kusher, the director of economic research, at PropTrack.
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All eyes on Toorak
The most-viewed residential listing on realestate.com.au last week was 7 Ottawa Road, Toorak, a French-inspired home sitting on 740sq m.
The home, which blends classical with modern, features a hidden front yard panel allowing cantilevered entry into a six-car gallery-style basement garage with a cellar.
It’s been listed with a $12m to $12.8m price guidance through Forbes Global Properties.
It was built by Peter Rowland, of the Peter Rowland catering group, who sold it to restaurateurs Frank van Haandel and his wife Sharon for $8.65m in 2017.
They sold in 2019 for $11.1m to Hui Sun, who also resides in a $30.5m Bellevue Hill trophy home owned by a luxury Hong Kong dealership car family.