Melbourne’s top weekend sale actually a loss

Grand old dame in a blue-chip suburb fails to turn its owners a profit, while Sydney notches its second-highest price this year.

Melbourne’s top advised weekend auction sale was $5.78m in Kew, but the house sold at a loss.

Melbourne’s top advised weekend auction sale was $5.78m in Kew, but the house sold at a loss.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom 1937 residence, marketed as having no heritage restrictions, had previously traded at $6m in 2022.

The brick home sits on a 1305sq m Tregarron Avenue holding in a cul-de-sac predominantly occupied by other period homes.

The home with grand formal rooms was owned between 1937 and 1959 by Gladys Reid, the wife of John Thyne Reid, who had been sent from Sydney by his father to head the Melbourne office of James Hardie & Co in 1932. He also joined the board of the finance company Mercantile Credits in 1939, and was its chairman from 1966 to 1973.

His knighthood came when he retired in 1974.

The home was auctioned with $5.4m to $5.9m price guidance.

It had sold for $5,088,800 in 2016, having earlier attracted Chinese Australian buying interest in 2012 when it sold for $3,560,888.

Melbourne hosted 1227 weekend auctions, up from just 496 auctions on the weekend prior which was affected by the Labour Day holiday.

Its 70.3 per cent success rate marked the fifth consecutive week where the preliminary clearance rate has held above the 70 per cent mark, according to CoreLogic.

Cop out

The former Williamstown police station that was the location for the long-running TV drama Blue Heelers failed to sell at a weekend auction in ­Melbourne.

The Federation-era Thompson Street property served as Blue Heelers’ Mount Thomas Police Station for 13 years until the Seven Network show ended in 2006.

It has since been transformed into a five-bedroom family residence.

Agent Anthony Christakakis, from Jellis Craig, had given a $2.85m to $3.1m price guide.

He has now advised a $2,995,000 asking price.

The former Williamstown police station that was the location for the long-running TV police drama Blue Heelers failed to sell when offered at a weekend auction in ­Melbourne.

Connick speculation

The forthcoming end of another Melbourne-based TV show, Neighbours, has raised the prospect that international singer Harry Connick Jnr could think about selling his Melbourne ­apartment.

The crooner and his wife Jill Goodacre Connick relocated to Australia with their three daughters while he worked as a judge on Australian Idol in 2023 and the daughters stayed.

He subsequently bought into the Otter Place, Collingwood apartment development.

The inner-north complex was constructed in 2024 by boutique developer Milieu, financed by Daniel Besen’s family office.

The upstate New York-based Connick paid about $3m for a sub-penthouse in the sell-out project.

Their daughter Kate Connick joined the cast of Neighbours last year, but streaming giant Amazon will wrap up production in July.

“We couldn’t have lost them to a better place,” Harry told The Project in 2023 when his daughters stayed.

“It’s no secret that I absolutely love your country,” he has also noted.

Of course, Besen loves Collingwood: he’s the founding chair of Collingwood Arts Precinct, the public contemporary arts incubator and adaptive re-use project.

Meanwhile, Michael McCormack’sMilieu is now developing an 11,000sq m Elsternwick site, which was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation studio from 1956 until 2017.

A village is under construction, again financed through Besen, with prices from $689,000.

$50m for mansion

Sydney’s top notified weekend sale was off-market, with filmmaker Warwick Ross and his wife, former journalist Margot Ross, selling their Kambala Road, Bellevue Hill mansion for just shy of $50m.

It ranks as Sydney’s second-dearest sale this year, behind last month’s sale of the Rose Bay harbourfront by recycled-shopping- bag businessman Frank Qiang Geng and his wife Juanjuan Zhao for about $55m. The Rosses are off to Portsea Estate, their family’s longheld vineyard on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

In 1996, they paid $3.27m for the five-bedroom Kambala Road mansion on its 1567sq m holding. The home boasts views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

PropTrack puts the Bellevue Hill house median at $8.8m after 72 sales in the past year, with a median time of 34 days on market.

Filmmaker Warwick Ross and his wife, former journalist Margot Ross, sold their Bellevue Hill mansion for just shy of $50m.

Collaroy classic

Sydney’s next priciest weekend sale was $5.85m at Collaroy, with the sale of the contemporary five-bedroom, three-bathroom house at 4 Lancaster Crescent.

It's on a 550sq m holding overlooking the Long Reef headland.

Mosman saw $4.09m paid for a basic four-bedroom, one-bathroom Federation cottage.

The Holt Avenue house had sold for $3.88m in February last year.

“No work had been done, so more proof the market is on the improve,” says David Murphy at Murphy Residential.

Sydney saw its preliminary clearance rate hold above 70 per cent, jumping to 71.4 per cent, marking the sixth week running above the 70 per cent mark.

There were 921 homes put to auction last week, the third-highest volume so far this year.

Brisbane bounces back

Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane held the most auctions, with 171 homes, up from just 82 the week prior, which was impacted by the approaching Cyclone Alfred.

Its preliminary clearance rate came in at 59 per cent, the highest so far this year, according to CoreLogic.

“Obviously last weekend the pause button was pushed on the real estate market here in Brisbane, and then it had maybe four days to find its feet and settle,” Ray White Queensland auctioneer Gavin Croft said.

“It’s always interesting to see how markets respond post any form of natural disaster or weather event.

“Buyers have come out in full force,” he advised.

Brisbane’s top auction result came when Ray White agents Damon Warat and Nick Roche sold the five-bedroom, five-bathroom home at 77 Palm Avenue, Ascot for $4.65m.

The auction had been pushed back a week given the prior weekend’s cyclone concerns.

The auction attracted five registered bidders, with three placing bids after the bidding opened at $4m.

The five-bedroom home in Ascot sold for $4.65m.

The 2023-built home came with interiors by K co Design. The two-level residence offered over 500sq m of internal living on a north-south 804sq m corner lot.

There were some 4700-plus page views on realestate.com.au, and the buyer was a local family.

“The home has a really impressive finish. It’s a nice, big house with lots of different living zones which suited the buyer’s needs perfectly,” Warat said.

The building block was bought in 2021 for $1.35m.

Historic offering

The most viewed residential listing on realestate.com.au last week was in the Adelaide Hills, with 12,000 page views.

The 17ha Upper Sturt heritage estate with 28 rooms has been listed by the family-owned hotel operator Piermount, which intends to now focus on its core pubs ­portfolio.

Headed by publican Brett Matthews, the company has had its head office at the 1897 Manoah House.

In the late 19th century, it served as the summer residence of Sir Josiah Symon, a former attorney-general of South Australia who helped write the Australian constitution.

Manoah is a biblical word meaning “place of repose”.

Harris Real Estate agents Arabella Hooper and Taryn Varcoe are seeking offers by April 9.

There were 126 homes auctioned in Adelaide, with 62 per cent of them reporting a successful result.

Auctions scheduled

PropTrack calculates that there are 1244 auctions scheduled in Melbourne this week, and 943 in Sydney, both down year-on-year due to the pre-Easter spike this time last year.

Estate agents will begin marketing their 2025 pre-Easter auctions from this week.

April 12 will be the super Saturday in the capital cities, while some vendors with beach listings have scheduling auctions for April 19.

Other beachfront vendors, including surfing champion Mick Fanning, have opted for post-Easter auctions.

His Bilinga offering, Rolling Seas, complete with a makeover undertaken by the Sydney-based Three Birds Renovations, is scheduled to go to April 24 auction through Troy Dowker at Kollosche Prestige.

Fanning lived in the home before converting it into a holiday rental.

The three-time world champion, who has two children with partner Breanna Randall, bought the home for $3.25m in 2011 on its prized 1030 sq  m block facing the sand.