Snowfalls and $9m lodge sale lift alpine spirits
The recent $9m sale of Thredbo’s priciest accommodation, Sastrugi Lodge, has added impetus to the alpine area’s real estate holdings given recent snowfalls and freezing temperatures.
The recent $9m sale of Thredbo’s priciest accommodation, Sastrugi Lodge, has added impetus to the alpine area’s real estate holdings given recent snowfalls and freezing temperatures.
High profile builder Tim Casey, boss of embattled construction group St Hilliers, recently sold the heritage listed 1950s lodge with its distinctive facade which hit the market with a record $9m asking price through Michelle Styne of Forbes Styne.
The sale came as recent snowfalls started turning attention to the NSW ski fields as more terrain and lifts open each week in the lead up to the school holidays.
Further south, top alpine realtor John Castran of Melbourne’s Castran group says Victoria’s alpine real estate market is not showing the same trends it has traditionally done for the past 40 years.
Mr Castran says that when economies get tough people normally offload their holiday homes but holiday rental returns are so good in Victoria’s ski fields investors are not doing that.
“Traditionally when the market gets tough the aeroplane, the snow house, the beach house were thrown out of the cot.
“We are not seeing this,” Mr Castran told Mansion.
“We think this is because the alpine market is very finite, you can’t make any more land.
“The rental returns still punch way above their weight – the alpine season is only 16 weeks a year.
“We are seeing landlords at Mt Buller picking up in excess of $200,000 for a season renting out a good four-bedroom apartment in a well located place.
The returns are eye watering which is obviously giving other holiday capitals like Byron Bay and Noosa a run for their money.”
Asked what is the most popular area to invest in Victoria’s ski fields Mr Castran said Dinner Plain has the greatest number of transactions because it is Australia’s only freehold alpine village.
“The order of sales performance by number of sales within the alpine resorts in Victoria is Dinner Plain first by the number of transactions, followed by Mt Buller, Mt Hotham and then Falls Creek,” he said, adding that Mt Buller has broken through the glass ceiling with real estate sales negotiated at more than $7m and $8m apiece.
“It is interesting to note that the rate of sale is much stronger at Mt Buller compared to last year, in fact double the number of properties have sold this year than last year.”
Mr Castran is marketing a brand new apartment in the Timbuktu complex in Mt Buller’s Summit Rd development with an asking price of $3.1m.
He said the apartment is in the best building in Mt Buller, and features three bedrooms, three bathrooms and one car space.
“The vendor bought a whole floor in the building and upgraded,” he said.
Meanwhile, in NSW’s Thredbo, Sastrugi Lodge sold after a quarter of a century of ownership by Mr Casey.
The iconic five bedroom lodge was purchased for just $500,000 25 years ago and has since been upgraded and doubled in size. It was designed by architects Otto Ernegg and Eric Nicholls for Andrew Thyne Reid, who chaired James Hardie until his death in the mid 1960s.
The engineer headed the syndicate that developed the snowfields at Kosciuszko Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains. It was rebuilt around two decades ago by Bellevarde Constructions using materials including stone, zinc, timber and metal. Ms Stynes told Mansion she could not reveal the identity of the buyer.
Mr Casey, who divides his time between Sydney and Canberra, declined to comment. It is believed all St Hilliers companies are now out of administration following completion of a deed of company arrangement.
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