This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
TENS of millions of dollars’ worth of Sydney unit blocks have traded in quick succession, and the activity has tempted more vendors to tip their assets to the market.
Among the transactions is a block of 13 units at 128 Parramatta Road in Camperdown, with one commercial space on the ground floor, which was purchased for $8.8 million by an overseas private investor from Belcorp.
The sale of the property, which has around 1,500 sqm of building area, was negotiated by Anthony Pirrottina, Demi Carigliano and Adam Droubi of Knight Frank following an Expressions of Interest campaign.
The block has a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom units and is fully leased, with a staggered lease expiry profile, providing opportunity for significant rental uplift over the coming months. Gross passing income of just over $535,000 per year, but is estimated to have a potential gross income of $559,000.
On Sydney’s Lower North Shore, a block of commercial suites and apartments has just sold through RWC for $12.25 million. On 470 sqm of land, the Mosman property sold fully leased with a combined estimated gross income of around $273,000 per annum plus GST, with potential for rental upside.
A Wiley Park block sold under the hammer last week for $3.24 million, with a fully leased passing income of $183,300 per year. RWC also sold the property.
Knight Frank has transacted more than $42 million over six sales over the past three months. The biggest of those was an apartment block and two townhomes on 699.3 sqm at 313 Bronte Road in Waverley, for $9.25 million in a deal negotiated by agents Demi Carigliano and James Masselos, in conjunction with Clint Ballard of Sotheby’s International.
“It’s no secret that Australia’s residential market is strong, with demand for housing outweighing supply, and this is the key fundamental that makes unit blocks such a strong, stable investment,” Pirrottina said.
“Each block of units we have taken to the market has attracted significant buyer interest from a wide range of investors, including strong demand from overseas high net worth investors.
“In fact, half of the unit blocks recently sold have been purchased by overseas investors on a site unseen basis – they never even inspected the property in person, but believed in the investment fundamentals of the property.”
Knight Frank’s sale also include a near-new block of 10 apartments in Camperdown for $7.4 million, a four-level block of 16 strata-titled apartments on a 1,277 sqm site at 5-7 Windsor Road in Merrylands in conjunction with Ray Fayad of Laing & Simmons in Parramatta, and an art deco block of four units at 88 Francis Street in Bondi Beach, known as “The Pines”, sold for $6.9 million – equating to $1.725 million per unit – prior to the close of an EOI campaign run by Masselos, Droubi and Carigliano.
Droubi sold a block of four apartments at 40 Victoria Street in Penshurst was sold for $2.55 million.
With buyer demand for unit blocks strong, vendors are responding by putting their properties on the market.
An art deco block of six three-bedroom apartments at 18 Church Street in Randwick is being taken to the market via an expressions of interest campaign, with price expectations of $8 million. The unit block occupies a 364sq m site in a prime Randwick location, moments from retail, transport and entertainment.
Back in Camperdown, a near-new block of five units at 27 Church Street is up for sale, with price expectations of up to $4 million. That goes to auction in mid-October.
Meanwhile, a block of nine apartments at 168 Coward Street in Mascot is up for sale via expressions of interest with price expectations of $5 million. That block, on a 694 sqm site 600 metres from Mascot train station, is ripe for renovation.
The trio are also for sale through Knight Frank.
