This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
EXCLUSIVE Sydney and Melbourne waterfront suburbs Vaucluse and Brighton have both seen $30 million-plus home sales, as a decline in new listings in the prestige market offsets a drop-off in buyer demand.
In Sydney’s ritzy inner east, Lola Li Wang, the wife of businessman and high roller Li Liang, has offloaded her Vaucluse residence, according to Domain, with title records showing “Tony” Tao Shi of Mosman as the buyer.
Li Wang bought the three-level residence in 2008 for $16.6 million from the Hall family. The home has formal and informal living areas, a media room, rooftop spa, pool, views of the Harbour Bridge and a garage for six cars.
She followed up that sale seven years later with the $39 million purchase of Point Piper mansion Villa del Mare from Xu Jiayin – the founder of struggling Chinese development giant Evergrande and once China’s richest man – after then-Treasurer Joe Hockey forced divestment orders on him.
According to Herron Todd White’s latest Month in Review, Sydney’s eastern suburbs prestige market had a very strong 2021 through until April, but activity in this market has since declined quickly as a federal election, interest rate rises and volatile equity markets as a result of inflationary pressures and the war in Ukraine reduced both buyer demand and vendors looking to sell.
Whilst prices are softening, the lack of supply is helping to hold up prices in this market, the report said.
Vaucluse, alongside Bellevue Hill, traditionally sees the highest volume of prestige house sales in the eastern suburbs. PriceFinder data shows that for the period from the start of this year to early October, Vaucluse saw the number of $5 million-plus transactions decrease from 90 to 39 compared to the same period in 2021, with the number of $10 million plus transactions decreasing from 29 to 20.
Also in the suburb, the home of late Palsonic founder Bahari Gupta sold after 60 years of family ownership, having been offered through Highland Property’s Bill Malouf with a price tag of $18 million to $20 million. Gupta, who is the father of former SBS chairman Nihal Gupta, and his late wife Virbala Gupta purchased the house in 1962.
Malouf has also recently listed for sale the Wentworth Road mansion home of arts patron Ashley Dawson-Damer with a guide of circa $30 million.
Bellevue Hill has also seen a decrease in prestige property transactions this year, as has Bronte.
“In general, the top quartile of properties has seen the largest decline in value in 2022, however properties above $5 million only make up a small subset of the top quartile of properties and prestige buyers tend to be less sensitive to interest rate movements than others within the top quartile,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the North Shore prestige market has seen record sales occur across multiple suburbs, while the Northern Beaches’ $10 milion-plus market has “performed admirably”. The inner city has seen many prestige dwellings hold their value with some declines visible in the unit market, and the inner west and southern markets have seen limited supply come to market.
New Brighton record set
In Melbourne’s bayside region, a waterfront residence set a new price record for exclusive Brighton after selling within the $30 million to $33 million price range.
The five-bedroom home at 39 Seacombe Grove is set on 1,420 sqm of absolute waterfront land and offers water views, a grand dining room, conservatory, music room, library and home office, home cinema, billiards room, bar, cellar, gym, heated infinity pool and spa, and garaging for 12 cars.
Records list the owner as Deborah Barlow, representative of the deceased estate of 7-Eleven co-owner Beverly Barlow.
Brighton’s previous record was set last year with the $25 million sale of a Kent Avenue residence offloaded by the Zagame restaurant family, but both may soon be eclipsed by the five-bedroom home at 16 Moule Avenue which has been listed at $46 million to $50 million.
Known as Teychel, the grand residence is on 4,500 sqm just moments from the water and has had only two owners in its 100-year history.
Another five-bedroom house in the suburb, at 6 Wilson Street, is currently listed for sale with a price guide of between $13 million and $14 million.
The Herron Todd White report shows that Melbourne’s prestige property market has remained resilient over 2022 as more international and local buyers compete for the scarce supply of luxury homes offered to the market. The Victorian record house price was set this year with cryptocurrency casino founder Ed Craven’s $80,000,0088 purchase of a Toorak house that has sat vacant for more than 30 years.
Elsewhere, Brisbane’s prestige market continues to offer “extraordinary” value for money and the market has remained buoyant throughout 2022. The same has occurred in Perth – where Rose Porteous, former wife of late mining magnate and once Australia’s richest man, Lang Hancock, has listed two large inner city homes for sale with a combined price tag of more than $10 million – as well as in Adelaide.
