Tasmanian church the answer to your prayers
There’s a romantic opportunity to own a historic Gothic Revival church in the Tasmanian countryside at Gretna, 50km from Hobart in the Central Highlands.
There’s a romantic opportunity to own a historic Gothic Revival church in the Tasmanian countryside at Gretna, 50km from Hobart in the Central Highlands.
Some $150,000-plus is being sought.
But any buyer of the 1848-consecrated Anglican Church, St Mary the Virgin, has been cautioned they will also need to manage the adjoining cemetery. They will be required to have a Tasmanian cemetery managers’ licence as part of the sale contract conditions.
Its EIS Property listing agent Deb Stephens said there was an opportunity to convert the former church “while respecting the families who may visit loved ones resting inside the cemetery grounds”.
The 101sq m church sits on 8094sq m that was sold by the diocese in June last year for $45,000, with connected power but no additional services or amenities.
The 31 Church Rd property was bought by Tassie Churches Pty Ltd, directed by tourism operator Melanie Spears as trustee on behalf of the In Tasmanian Churches We Trust organisation which is based at St Peter’s Church, Kempton.
The Gravesites of Tasmania website studiously lists around 400 names dating back to 1849 while noting there are 37 unmarked graves. The owner of the nearby Askrigg estate, Edward Terry, who gave the land grant, is among the buried.
Duncan Grant’sThe Churches of Tasmania website notes the church was one of the earliest ecclesiastical buildings in pioneering Australia to be influenced by English design trends.
It also noted the property had been on the list to be sold off by the Anglican church to compensate victims of sexual abuse as a part of its national redress scheme.
The more habitable five-room 1927 St Mary’s church hall was sold in 2019 for $205,000.
Banker cashes in
The Vaucluse home of former NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne and his wife Melinda has been sold for $14m-plus, after being on the market for just three weeks.
The Kings Rd house heralded the spring selling season’s prestige listings.
But like so many other trophy homes it was snapped up before its September 9 auction through Goodyer agents Pauline Goodyer and Geoffrey Collins.
The deal was secured after the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home attracted close to 3000 views on realestate.com.au during its abbreviated marketing campaign.
The pricey suburb’s median time on market sits at 64 days, according to PropTrack.
Its current $8,737,500 median is just off its $8.9m peak of last October.
The home was purchased in 2007 for $6.15m by Clyne who took the NAB job in October 2008 during the Global Financial Crisis, when he succeeded John Stewart. Clyne handed the reins to Andrew Thorburn in August 2014.
The priciest Vaucluse listing is a multi-level home with pool, on a 771sq m Carrara Ave block with access to Hermit Bay.
It last traded in 2018 at $23,888,000 when sold by construction boss Peter Comino to entrepreneur Alex Ma, sans mortgage.
Big price for Little Bay
The combined capitals’ preliminary clearance rate hovered for the second consecutive week at around 71 per cent for the 1450 results collected so far by CoreLogic.
In Sydney 75 per cent of the 589 results collected so far recorded a successful result, putting Sydney at its highest rate in five weeks, and overtaking Adelaide as the strong capital city.
Sydney’s top under-the-hammer result reveal came at Little Bay where $5.7m was paid for a six-bedroom, five-bathroom house, slightly in excess of its $5.4m reserve.
The auction attracted five registered bidders of whom three were active.
“The buyers were from Coogee, they just sold their house,” Fan Li at Ray White said.
“They were drawn to the fact that it’s one of only about 28 houses that face the ocean.”
The three-level, 2009-built home last sold in 2015 for $3.4m.
There was a pricier sale at Manly but no price revealed when a 1925 trophy home sold with an architectural redesign by Stephen Lesiuk.
In a pre-auction sale, $7,850,000 was paid for a five-bedroom 1930s house at 18 Weeroona Ave, Woollahra through Alexander Phillips of PPD Real Estate.
But the on-site auctions were weak on Saturday morning at Woollahra and Paddington.
The new four-bedroom four-bathroom abode at 8 Wallis St, Woollahra attracted no bids from buyers. Instead Fraser Turvey of McGrath placed a $10.75m vendor bid.
The 357sq m holding with a pool had been on the market for two months at the start of 2023 but the agency was dropped.
The house features Herringbone floors, custom-crafted Atelier joinery, attic guest retreat, an office and a home theatre.
It last sold for $6.1m back in 2020.
Paddington’s Sutherland St saw three terraces put to auction with no sales.
Balwyn brilliance
Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate dipped below the 70 per cent mark for the third time in four weeks, with 69.5 per cent of the 659 results collected so far returning a successful result.
A French Chateau inspired abode at 28 Kalimna St, Balwyn was Melbourne’s dearest advised auction result at $5.04m. There had been $4.4m to $4.8m guidance through Malcolm Lee and Tony Yang of Forge Group Australia.
Describing it as “blue-chip accommodation in a top-class location”, they took 13 bids from the four bidders after the opening $4.3m offer.
Set on 672sq m, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home was built in 2007. Featuring front and rear gardens, and a three-car garage, it last sold for $2.625m in 2009. It secured 8805 views on realestate.com.au.
Canberra classic
With Canberra’s success rate now at 68 per cent, a recently completed Paul Tilse-designed trophy home in O’Connor fetched $4.3m at auction throughJosh Morrissey and Katrice Velnaar of HIVE Property. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom house scored 4800 page views on realestate.com.au. It comes with 298sq m living space plus 150sq m of garaging for eight cars.
It is set on 849sq m, with an unimproved capital value at $1,324,000 as at last year.
The building block sold for $1.75m in late 2021.
$4m at Ascot
Brisbane was the weakest auction market at 62 per cent.
Brisbane’s top sale at 41 Mayfield St, Ascot was called on the market at $4m. Then two buyers offered small price increments, taking its sale price to $4.03m.
The recently refurbished 1935 property attracted local and international buyers, and was sold to a local. There were nine registered bidders with six active when it was auctioned through Ray White agent Matt Lancashire.
He conducted 104 buyer inspections of the five-bedroom, three-bathroom abode set on a 607sq m holding with views to the Gateway Bridge.
It last sold for $1.92m in 2018.
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