Tree-changers unfazed by bushfires as buyers snap up burnt-out lots

Last summer’s super-sized bushfires have not deterred buyers from snapping up sites in the scenic hamlet of North Rosedale.

A beach-style cottage that is for sale on Dale Place, Rosedale, NSW.

Last summer’s super-sized bushfires have not deterred buyers from snapping up sites in the scenic hamlet of North Rosedale near the NSW south coast seaside township of Batemans Bay, with two vacant sites selling just a fortnight after they were cleared of the debris associated with the firestorm.

All up, 52 of the 72 cottages in North Rosedale, including a holiday investment property owned by the acclaimed fashion and interior designer Collette Dinnigan, were destroyed or damaged by the fires.

The government has conducted an exhaustive decontamination of most of the blocks, including clearing them of any asbestos debris.

A cleared site at 71 Yowani Road, North Rosedale, was just sold by the executor of an estate linked to the Bushell family for $1.05m.

The remains of one of the Rosedale cottages. Picture: Jane Dempster

As more Sydney dwellers look for an upmarket country bolthole, another site at 75 Yowani Road has just sold for $1.15m just two week’s after it was cleared.

Recent buyers in the area include a grazing family from the NSW Southern Highlands and a young Canberra family with a legal and IT background.

While more Rosedale owners are embarking on post bushfire sales, Collette Dinnigan’s holiday retreat will be rebuilt. It was among the cottages incinerated on New Year’s Eve along with most of the rest of the houses on the clifftop Yowani Road.

Dinnigan purchased the cottage, which she has rented out, for $950,000 in early 2018 and is understood to be talking to designers about a rebuild.

Meanwhile, Elders Real Estate agent John Haslem — whose own ­Rosedale home was also destroyed by the bushfires — has just listed 3 Dale Place with price expectations of less than $1m.

The north-facing property, with a 1980s-style beach cottage, overlooks about 100m of trees and then the ocean. It was designed by the late Canberra architect Clem Cummings, who was responsible for many of the ACT’s public buildings.

The vendor of the two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage is Elizabeth Richardson who is based in Canberra. The property is set to go to auction on September 12 but Mr ­Haslem said he would take prior offers.

The valuer-general last valued the 620sq m block at $668,000. Nearby a larger block recently sold for $710,000.

“The evidence is that the top end of the market is going from strength to strength with more sales at higher ­prices than there were this time last year,” Mr Haslem told The Weekend Australian.

“It’s the old tree change thing — we are getting more people wanting an escape. They are from Sydney and Canberra looking for a retreat.”

Dinnigan and her hotelier husband Bradley Cocks are currently in Europe and could not be reached for comment.