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It's premature to suggest the trend is omnipresent, but the latest RP Data update would suggest that there may be an easing in the rapid price growth that Sydney notched up last year.
As at December 31, Sydney's annual growth was marked off at 14.5%.
Just three weeks later it's down to an annualised 13%. And I'd suggest the tractectory is one directional.
<img src="/images/stories/2014/01/21/rp-data-jan-21-one.gif" alt="rp-data-jan-21-one" width="470" height="262">
(Source: RP Data)
While I was confident about Sydney's 2013 growth prospect, I never expected the 14.5% rate.
And I have to say that I regularly struggled to see that level of growth in many specific sales especially in the cheapest and dearest suburbs.
There was certainly a middle priced suburb fillip.
Anyway I sense Sydney will enjoy moderated growth during 2014.
I'd be suggesting 7% to 8% growth might be the go in 2014.
One initial factor that will impact is an early 2014 run at listing from slow-coach vendors wanting to capitalise on the improved market. But too much supply on offer for remaining buyers will act as a restraint on price growth.
RP Data has already noted a boost in January's fresh new Sydney listings, though still some 26% down on the same time last year.
<img src="/images/stories/2014/01/21/rp-data-jan-21-two.gif" alt="rp-data-jan-21-two" width="470" height="267">
(Source: RP Data)
Rising unemployment will also be a handbrake on growth. 
<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_blank">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
 
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Slowing home price growth: Sydney's tentative early 2014 capital city trend

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The National Australia Bank has lowered its four-year fixed home loan package rate by 0.2 per cent to 5.44 per cent.
It is the lowest point since September 1993.
The NAB has also cut its three-year fixed home loan by 0.05 per cent to 5.14 per cent, signalling a renewed intensification of the battle between the banks.
"We know that now is the time people are looking to get their finances in order as they plan for the year ahead, especially­ those looking to buy their first home,'' NAB personal banking boss Gavin Slater­ ­said.
NAB kicked-off a war for customers on Valentines Day 2011, when it declared it was "breaking up'' with the rest of the Big Four.
It has since had the lowest or equal lowest standard variable interest rate of the big four banks. 
“One of the things that we have consistently said is that we are absolutely committed to remaining competitive," Antony Cahill, National Australia Bank’s executive general manager in charge of lending and deposits, told the Weekend Australian Financial Review.
“Whilst we haven’t set it in stone that we are absolutely going to remain there [the lowest standard variable rate, I think you can remain confident that we will be competitive.”
 
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
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NAB fixed four year rate cut to 1993 levels

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Tasmania's gambling arts patron David Walsh has listed his full-floor penthouse atop the Harry Seidler-designed Horizon, Darlinghurst tower. The proprietor of the much-admired MONA gallery and Moorilla Estate vineyard, can almost see home from his rarely used 43rd-floor vantage point.
The apartment was bought from property developer Lang Walker for $10 million back in 2002.
The contents will possibly even include select artworks from his private collection, including a watercolour triptych on paper by John Olsen, to sweeten the property deal.
It's being scheduled for early 2014 auction through Bill Bridges of Ballard Property Group after Coco Republic install some custom furniture with the aim of enhancing its appeal to Chinese buyers as a home and corporate home office suite.
Weekend News Ltd publicity put the penthouse price speculation at $16 million plus.
The 43rd-floor penthouse was bought by developer Lang Walker off the plan in 1998 for $5.62 million.
When it was sold in 2002 to the Tasmanian entrepreneur for $10 million through Bill Bridges, it exceeded Sydney's then $8-million penthouse record. 
Walsh has made little recent use of the three-bedroom apartment that covers 660 square metres and has six car spaces.
Walsh briefly tried to sell in 2006 for $16 million, but at the time there was an accute oversupply of upper-floor stock in the landmark Forbes Street block. The property developer Bob Ell had his abode - four-bedroom, four-balcony, 565 square metre whole floor 40th-level apartment for sale as did the celebrity manager Harry M. Miller who was looking for a buyer for his 41st-floor, 470 square metres apartment.
So Walsh, widely remembered in Tasmania as being among a small group of students who used their mathematical genius to beat the Hobart casino in its early days and credited with repeating the same success with internet gambling, couldn't crack the prestige apartment oversupply market impasse.
Title Tattle recalls Walsh allowed his penthouse to be the 2008 venue of the 10th anniversary party. The guests included the 30 or so off-the-plan buyers who remained in the same units, including Harry Seidler's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Evatt.
One of those who sent their apologies was the then London-based Mr Paparazzi, Darryn Lyons, now the mayor of Geelong in his Victorian hometown, who still owns having paid $604,750.
Developer Elarosa's commissioning of Harry Seidler's 43-storey skyscraper was credited with taking Darlinghurst out of its damp terrace era.
<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_blank">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
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Mona's David Walsh lists Horizon, Darlinghurst penthouse after Coco Republic update

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Despite the BBC news headline, the Lord Alistair McAlpine of West Green I knew was no grandee.
He was ever the down-to-earth, frangipanis-loving Broome visionary, back in the Kimberley region for the first time in a decade, when I last rendezvoused with him in 2012.
I recall he liked what he saw in his beloved Broome, with one warning about the town he truly helped put on the international tourism map.
“It’s important the planners stick to the ‘no higher than a palm tree’ height principle when it comes to new development,” he advised.
Describing the heat during his last visit in March 2012 as like a very gentle sauna, McAlpine, the Treasurer of the British Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher, was there to be recognised by the shore for his contribution to putting the place on the tourism map.
Dubbed by the eastern states press as "Lord Of The Bush", he was formally recognised at a ceremony in March 2012 when given the presentation of the shire's highest honour, Freeman of the Municipality.
Coming to buy seashells, he first visited the former pearling town in 1979 and was taken with it – albeit describing it as a derelict town. He'd been collecting seashells since a boy - and first came to the then farming town Perth in 1958 on the maiden voyage of the SS Oriana, the first of a new era in ocean liners. 
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/stories/suncinemas.jpg">
Within hours of arriving in the Kimberley town all those decadesago, he’d purchased a cottage, then the Sun Cinemas (pictured above), and within a few years he'd started a zoo and a luxury resort.
He had been previously building Perth property since the mid-1960s including construction of the Pamelia hotel through his family business.
His acquisitions of Broome properties – many of the best of the pearling master's cottages – got to number into the 20s. One of his books was titled, Adventures of a Collector, and his stretched the world from shells, stuffed birds, old cushions, Turkish carpets, beads, aboriginal art,  plants and travellers' tales.
“Without its old houses, Broome was nothing,” the softly spoken McAlpine told me.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/stories/cablebeach.jpg">
His biggest acquisition was the Cable Beach property – then a caravan park and sewer – which is now the Cable Beach Resort (pictured above). It was bought quite informally – a beer mat contract – at the Roey pub.
“The Cable Beach Resort is far better than in the past,” McAlpine acknowledged in our conversation.
Broome, set in one of Australia's great wilderness areas, is easily isolated.
McAlpine’s reluctant exit from the town came in the wake of the debilitating 1989 Australian pilots’ strike, and he said he might still be there but for it.
As the UK-based <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10581646/Lord-McAlpine-of-West-Green" target="_blank">The Telegraph noted in his weekend obituary</a> in 1989, "after an Australian pilot’s strike lasting six months, his Australian tourism venture, in which he had invested £250 million, collapsed, costing him much of his personal fortune."
"It’s greatly improved since my day," he suggested, dressed dapperly in earthy colours that matched the geographical locality, but perhaps not suiting the temperature.
"The town has developed very well, but it’s not there yet.
"There’s a lot more buildings, but not much has changed.
"It’s a mature town, but I’ve been impressed by the restraint. They’ve stroked it terrifically,” he said.
He felt there was a need for more foliage in the town. By contrast he'd recalled the return visits to Port Douglas over the years which he noted had changed out of all recognition.
During a public gathering he was quizzed on the impact arising from the development of the controversial gas project at James Price Point.
"Resources will be a short-term thing," he suggested.
But he indicated he was more concerned at the prospect of eco-hotels opening up through the Kimberley and people arriving to them on buses and in gas-guzzling four-wheel drives.
He is keen for railway lines to be constructed in the region. He suggested a railway line from Meekatharra to Broome and onto Darwin and a narrow gauge rail line from Broome up to Cape Leveque on the Dampier Peninsula.
It was only in 2010 that he stepped down from his seat in the House of Lords. The West Green title stems from his association with West Green House, an 18th-century country house at West Green in Hartley Wintney in the English county of Hampshire built by General Henry Hawley, who led the cavalry charge at the Battle of Culloden.
The National Trust has owned the house since 1971, after being left the property by Victor Sassoon in 1957. McAlpine acquired the lease in 1976 and restored the gardens and added monuments designed by the classical architect Quinlan Terry.
The house was damaged by an IRA bomb attack in 1990, though McAlpine had left the house just three weeks previously, at the expiration of his lease.
Of course, Marylyn Abbott of Sydney bought the lease from the National Trust in 1993 having previously developed her well known Kennerton Green garden in Mittagong, New South Wales. Abbott, the former Sydney Opera House tourism operator, holds opera seasons there.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/stories/mcalpine1.jpg">
Lord McAlpine in 2012, photograph by Jonathan Chancellor
He lived with his wife, Athena (pictured above on his last trip to Australia at Broome), in southern Italy, owning a haute bed-and-breakfast, the 15th-century Il Convento di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, in Apulia. His dear friends Sarah Stein, his book publicist, and her chef husband, Rick Stein, along his last guests.
I am sure it would have been fun, but I never got there.
Back in Broome, guests can still stay at McAlpine House, the Broome house built in 1910 for pearling master Herbert Kennedy.
Made in the traditional and unique architectural style of Broome, from corrugated iron and timber with spacious, latticed verandahs, the house was purchased in 1982 from the Kennedy family. He planted an extensive garden with aviaries which housed exotic birds, including his prized Eclectus Parrots, which still reside at McAlpine House. It was to be Lord McAlpine’s residence in Broome for the next decade. In the late 1990s, the house once again became a pearler's home, being purchased by Marilynne Paspaley, a member of the family who have been master pearlers in the Kimberley since the 1930s. Marilynne Paspaley has overseen its evolution into a boutique hotel.
The <a href="/news">Broome</a> property market has much to credit/blame Lord McAlpine for its current status with a $640,000 house price median.
"It's affluence caused largely by myself," he suggested over the years.
<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_parent">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
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Lord Alistair McAlpine, the visionary collector, triggered Broome's affluence

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The former entrepreneurial medico Geoffrey Edelsten was halted from auctioning his opulent Palazzo Versace, Main Beach apartment on the weekend.
A US bankruptcy judge Lawrence Walter ordered the 10.30am Sunday auction's abandonment after an eleventh hour legal application motion by Edelsten's former US business partners, the Mawardi family of the Vegas fashion label, Nurielle who made estranged wife, Brynne Edelsten's 2009 Brownlow showstopper.
Geoffrey Edelsten filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week in Ohio, where he is locked in a legal battle with former business partners over control of an property investment portfolio.
"The proposed sale of the penthouse identified in the motion shall be cancelled forthwith by Edelsten," bankruptcy judge Lawrence Walter ordered, as reported by Fairfax Media.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2014/01/14/edelsten]}
Edelsten has pursued state and federal court proceedings since they were commenced by Edelsten in 2012 in the Florida South District Court.  The defendants were Rafael Mawardi, aka "Alfie" Mawardi and Isaac Mawardi, aka Keith Mawardi. The proceedings relate to Geoffrey Edelsten v. Rafael Mawardi , Isaac Mawardi, Nurielle, LLC, Nurielle Bal Harbour, Corp, House of Nuriella Miami, LLC, House of Nurielle.Com, LLC, House of Nurielle, LLC, Cinema Clothing USA, LLC, Nuri &amp; Elle Studio, Inc. and Scoop Bar &amp; Grill, LLC. The portfolio included a housing complex in Dayton, Ohio. 
The former business associates seemingly struck a settlement deal last September which has since unravelled.
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Edelsten first met Rafael Mawardi in 2010 and in 2011 Mawardi invited him to invest in his group of companies.
Edelsten's initial claim was that he had invested many millions of dollars, but had received nothing in return.
The Gold Coast apartment was bought in late 2011 before its $1.5 million refurbishment was set to be auctioned this weekend through <a href="https://www.lucycole.com.au/buyingdetail?id=6075079&amp;category=residential" target="_blank">Lucy Cole of Lucy Cole Prestige</a>. It reportedly cost around $3 million, although the transfer documents suggest it was around $600,000 for the property, which was mortgaged with a $650,000 loan in mid-2013 at 9.25%.
The listing has disappeared from the agency website along with <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-qld-main+beach-115760287" target="_blank">realestate.com.au</a>.
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Geoffrey Edelsten's estate agent had previously told the Gold Coast Bulletin's Quentin Tod that the penthouse was surplus to his needs. It comes as his wife, Brynne's publicist John Scott confirmed the Melbourne-based couple had split six weeks ago and were negotiating their settlement.
The two-level property, which overlooks the Broadwater, comes with a large rooftop garden with spa.
It comes with genuine Versace furniture imported from Milan comprising the finest leathers and brocades, exclusive Italian bed linen and tableware, exquisite lighting including a massive crystal chandelier.
"Costing over $1.5 million dollars, the refurbishment has created a splendid and unique living environment at the Gold Coast's most exclusive address," the Lucy Cole markting says.
Art sculptures in the garden were flown in by helicopter. It comes with marina berth.
His US financial troubles stem from a fallout with business partners on control of the House of Nurielle fashion label, an executive jet, Bombadier Challenger 601, a casino in the Dominican Republic, Casino Playa Chiquita and two slum rental housing complexes in Memphis, Tennessee and the one in Dayton, Ohio with 680 dwellings.
Mr Edelsten's Australian lawyers previously told Fairfax Media the bankruptcy filing was a strategy to "better realise the investments made in the US."
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Geoffrey Edelsten's Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast auction halted by Ohio, US court order

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New prestige Sydney eastern suburbs listings are now well underway.
The freshest is Bellevue Hill residence, Angela Fleming's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-2507-21507379/22-drumalbyn-road-bellevue-hill-bellevue-hill-sw-2023">Donnington Grange</a> (pictured below) with its so-called classic neo-Georgian pedigree.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2014/01/22/bell]}
There is also a $30 million plus offering on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/house-vaucluse-nsw-2030/204612">Coolong Road, Vaucluse</a> (pictured below) with tennis court, slipway and marina berth.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2014/01/22/vau]}
It was 2005 when the late grocery tycoon Jim Fleming and his wife, Angela paid $16.5 million for the Bellevue Hill residence, a pricey sale at a time when a pall was evident over most of the Sydney market.
The 1,842-square metre Drumalbyn Road estate, with eight bedrooms, 10-bathroom house and 10-car underground garaging, has now been listed through Sydney Sothebys International agent Michael Pallier inconuunction with <a target="_blank" href="https://doublebay.ljhooker.com.au/M6EF93">LJ Hooker agent Bill Malouf</a> and Sophie Beaumont. It was built for the Rubenstein family before its sale to the Flemings.
No price indicator has been given on its current offering, though $20 million plus could possibily be achieved.
Last October Property Observer reported Angela Fleming bought mining executive Ian Stolyar's Point Piper apartment (pictured below) for around $12.4 million from the mortgagee-in-possession. It has since been settled with the private treaty sale being $12.3 million.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/10/10/piper]}
Last traded officially at $13 million in 2010, it was marketed by LJ Hooker Double Bay agent Bill Malouf.
The sale marks a return to the harbourfront for Angela Fleming who'd previously lived in the Wintergarden, Rose Bay garden unit in the Sid Londish development. 
Despite the protests, the 1920s Wintergarden theatre, a 2,000-seater with luxurious upstairs lounge, was demolished in 1987 after it was condemned seven years earlier. Sid Londish's Comrealty bought the 2.4-hectare New South Head Road site for $9.5 million in late 1987 from the Low Yat development group of Malaysia, which had the intention of building a 136-room hotel. But Londish subsequently had architect Michael Standley design an eight-apartment block with north-west views of the harbour and city skyline. With living areas the size of most two-bedroom units, it was one of the early penthouse-style apartment complexes developed in Sydney. In late 1989, Comrealty Ltd had an average $4 million asking price on the units, which subsequently sold for about a $2.75 million average in the early 1990s downturn.
Angela Fleming's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/price-floor-found-for-prestige-as-angela-fleming-spends-124-million-on-point-piper-apartment/2013100965603">prestige apartment purchase </a>comes against the backdrop of reduced turnover of prestige houses which has led into the continued restrained trickle of prestige apartment sales to empty nesters, widows invariably accompanied by their pets.
It's a slow task bringing local buyers, sellers and prices into alignment, as the analysis of the year's top 20 sales suggested.
Slow negotiations because the Sydney house needs to be sold before any downsized purchase. And the buyers who've typically been spending little on upkeep at their own house have to get use to the idea of community living and its accompanying strata levey, which in this case sits at $6,500 a quarter. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/sydney-s-hyde-park-penthouse-sells-for-discount-due-to-%24142000-annual-strata-levy/2011080451043">Strata levies can impede sales</a>.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/08/aug28syd]}
It's a different matter with offshore buyers who continue to snap up the prestige apartments at pace, including the penthouse in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/hyde-park-the-residence-penthouse-sale-confirmed-at-%2417-million/2013082764609">the Residence</a> (pictured above) overlooking Hyde Park at $17 million in August along with earlier sales including the $8.1 million <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/luxury-lumiere-residences-sydney-cbd-penthouse-fetches-%248.1-million-through-savills-australia/thailand/2012010452967">Lumiere penthouse</a> in the Sydney CBD, both sold through Savills. Some came with the rare prospect of same-floor parking for four cars.
news@propertyobserver.com.au
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Point Piper harbourfront bound Angela Fleming lists Bellevue Hill mansion

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<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules1.jpg" alt="houserules1" width="50" height="62" style="margin: 5px; float: left;">
 
 
 
Altona, the Point Piper harbourfront mansion, crowned last year’s list of Sydney’s top 20 highest price house sales after selling at $52 million.
Sold by Deke Miskin, a former teenage magazine publishing industry entreprenuer, and his wife Eve in March, the landmark property had been previously listed on and off the market over the past six years with $50 million-plus hopes. There had been a rejected $55 million offer in 2007 from the Lowy family. The $52 million Wunulla Road property sale came with a tennis court block which has since been turned into a garden.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2012/09/sept12altona]}
A half dozen or so estate agents had the listing over the years, but it was Double Bay agent, Alison Coopes, perhaps in conjunction with a city agent, who apparently orchestrated the sale at a healthy price to Chaimovitch Investments Pty Ltd, a company whose sole director and shareholder is Xiuzhen Ding, a 75 year old Shandong, China-born resident of Ormond Esplanade in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Elwood.
Although the buyer technically looks like a Melbourne Chinese family, it’s possible the company is merely fronting for another Chinese buying party.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules2.jpg" alt="houserules2" width="50" height="54" style="margin: 5px; float: left;">
 
 
 
The Point Piper pensinsula also had the next priciest sale: $33.5 million for a harbourfront mansion nicknamed the Bang &amp; Olufsen house. Sold in April by the McWilliam family, the three-level residence built in the mid-1980s by Brian Johnson of Pennant Properties. It  is currently undergoing an internal refurbishment.
Singer Elton John nicknamed it the Bang and Olufsen house due to its distinctive tinted glass stereo speaker design spotted while sailing Sydney Harbour with his publicist Patti Mostyn. A buyer from mainland China - associated with the Cubbie Station cotton acquisition - purchased the Wolseley Crescent property in an off-market deal negotiated through Bill Bridges of Ballard Property.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules3.jpg" alt="houserules3" width="50" height="65">
<label for="NOW_FO_LTD_2909788">Yachtie Matt Allen, a veteran of more than 20 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Races, took a put and call option mid-year over the late Sir William Tyree's Darling Point harbourfront. No settlement has taken place with Matt Allen currently seeking $17 million for his Bellevue Hill abode, Yoorami through Savill's agent Martin Schiller. Originally built in the 1920s, Yoorami comes with restorative work by architect Michael Suttor with interiors by Thomas Hamel. It was 1996 when the then Potter Warburg executive Matt Allen spent $5.65 million to buy the Yoorami Estate in Bellevue Hill from the barrister Geraldine Vandeleur, wife of silk Charles Sweeney. Matt Allen's most famous Sydney to Hobart skippering has been of Ichi Ban, which has variously been a Sydney 38 OD, a Farr 40 OD and a Jones 70 ocean racer. He is the former Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore.</label>
<label for="NOW_FO_LTD_2909788">One of Sydney Harbour’s longest property owners, Sir William Tyree, the founder of a 1940s electrical transformer manufacturing company, ave Allen the rights to buy his Darling Point harbourfront residence which comes with unenviable waterfront facilities. It fetched around $30 million just a few months before Sir William's death.</label>
<label for="NOW_FO_LTD_2909788"><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/yachtie-matt-allen-takes-put-and-call-option-over-sir-william-tyree-s-darling-point-harbourfront/2013070162860" target="_blank">The deal was done in June</a>, at well short of its ambitious $50 million hopes on its initial listing. </label>Sir William - who briefly dabbled in fm radio licences in the late 1970s - was knighted in 1971 for philanthropic services. In the early 1990s Sir William successfully resisted attempts by Woollahra Council to turn his foreshore land, which has unrivalled boating facilities, into a harbourfront open space linking to nearby McKell Park.
<label for="NOW_FO_LTD_2909788">Sir William engaged three agents, Bill Bridges of Ballard Property, Ken Jacobs of Christies International and Michael Dunn from Richardson &amp; Wrench to find its buyer initially in August 2011.</label>
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules4.jpg" alt="houserules4" width="50" height="64">
The veteran technology investor Neill Miller secured the fourth highest price with the sale of his Rose Bay harbourfront mansion for about $30 million.
There was no public marketing of the contemporary residence set on a harbourfront reserve block in Bayview Hill Road, a steep cul-de-sac sandwiched between the Kambala and Kincoppal-Rose Bay schools.
The land was bought for $7.75 million in 2002 along with a $3 million acquisition in 2005 of a portion hived off from Sacred Heart convent land holdings. The dress circle virtual property sale which has yet to settle given extended settlement terms was reputed to have been notched up through Michael Pallier, the principal of the newly founded, but increasing evident, Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules5.jpg" alt="houserules5" width="50" height="67">
Addenbrooke, the stately Bellevue Hill trophy home, didn't hang around for its formal spring trophy home marketing campaign.
It's attracted the attention of competitive interest with the property developer Bob Ell securing the offering through Sydney Sotheby's International Realty agent Michael Pallier at $28 million. It was sold by the downsizing vendors, Denis and Charlotte O'Neil. Addenbrooke had last traded at its 1988 auction for $5.375 million having been the home of the late Sir Lionel Coppleson, the former hire purchase Custom Credit c0-founding chairman, for close to five decades.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/houserules6.jpg" alt="houserules6" width="50" height="64">
The sixth highest-priced Sydney sale for this financial year was notched up in May when the Kelly fashionista family upgraded homes on exclusive Kutti Beach in Vaucluse. Nick and Susie Kelly, founders of Industrie clothing, reputedly paid close to $20 million for the Goymour family’s home - one of just the seven beachfront houses in the scenic location with postcard perfect images across Sydney Harbour.
The Kellys were in the news last year as they successfully sought redress against entertainment industry couple Toni Collette and David Galafassi over their failure to proceed with their $6.35 million purchase of the Kellys' Stewart Street, Paddington double terrace.
The Kutti Beach house (pictured below) was listed with $20 million expectations through Savills agent Adam Ross inconjunction with Ben Collier of McGrath Estate Agents. It had been listed in 2011 with $25 million hopes.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/05/may29vaucluse]}
Designed in 2004 by architect Graham Jahn, it has summer and winter living spaces linked by a bridge crossing pools and courtyards which forms a "transition zone" that "captures sunlight and provides one of many private relaxing getaways".
The house has 650 square metres of living space and has a northerly aspect but is sheltered from prevailing winds.
With a sandy beach on the title, the 1,200 sqm property has lawns, landscaped gardens and garage space for two cars. There's a restored cedar boat-house providing entertaining space on the waterfront.
"Of the thousands of properties I've inspected through the years, this place is an absolute standout," the then SMH Domain property writer Margie Blok wrote on its 2011 listing.
Title Tattle recalls it was the 2004 Belle magazine House of the Year award winner.
Philip and Tanya Goymour built the house after the block was bought from Warwick Negus for $4.175 million in 1999. It had been with the Joris diamond family previously. Philip and Tanya Goymour are semi-retired from their innovative nautical engineering technology company with plans to spend more time at their Church Point property.
Read more over page
 
 
 
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<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/7one.jpg" alt="7one" width="50" height="66">
Property developer Eduard Litver and his wife, Adriana, sold their Darling Point harboufront house for $16.3 million. Sold in March through Steven Chen at McGrath Estate Agents, the Litver's five-bedroom waterfront reserve house comes with a swimming pool. The Eastbourne Road property had been listed on and off since late 2011. Set at the end of the cul-de-sac end, it initially came with overly ambitious $20 million-plus hopes.
Accessed by a glass-covered inclinator, the house stands at the bottom of a steep site that once was part of the Babworth Estate. The property was bought by the Litvers for $5 million in 2008 when it was only partially built. With views across Double Bay, the house comes with 750 square metres internal space. Darling Point's highest house sale remains the Sutton's $18.25 million purchase in 2007 from tourism entrprenuer Barry Wain. The next priciest was back in 2001 when the Davey family bought Craigend for $16 million.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/06/8one.jpg" alt="8one" width="50" height="63">
The former Bellevue Hill matrimonial home of the late transport tycoon Sir Peter Abeles sold to Cranbrook School for $15,501,000 in May when offered at an invitation only onsite auction. Named Sundorne, the well-hidden Tudor style six-bedroom Victoria Road mansion (pictured below) stands on a 2549 square metre block that was originally part of the Cranbrook estate -- now home to the private school for boys -- which was subdivided in 1917.
Listed with $11 million-plus hopes, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/cranbrook-school-secures-the-%24155-million-bellevue-hill-former-home-of-sir-peter-abeles-cranbrook/2013052261595?utm_source=po&amp;utm_medium=aida&amp;utm_campaign=news" target="_blank">the property presented a rare opportunity</a> as it last sold 45 years ago.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/05/abelesmay23four.jpg" alt="abelesmay23four" width="470" height="283">
The Cranbrook school council president Dr Helen Nugent and treasurer Geoff Kimpton were in attendance at the very damp invitation only auction, accompanied by Sydney lawyer, Bruce McWilliam, as spotted by Title Tattle who was the only media in attendance. They seemed to adopt the school motto, Esse Quam Videri which translates from Latin to "to be rather than to seem to be". There was only competition from a North Shore family after the 2A zoned property was announced on the market at around $11.5 million. It had been home to Sir Peter and his first wife, the arts patron Claire Dan during the period when Sir Peter was cementing his place in Australia’s corporate life.
The two-storey home had interior furniture and fittings installed by Peter and Claire. With ashtrays on every table, and wood-panelled walls it solicited comparisons with the 1960s-styled series Mad Men. Sir Peter bought Sundorne from the well-connected establishment Simpson lawyer family in 1958 through his company P.A. Holdings Pty Ltd for about £60,000. The couple had emigrated from Hungary in 1949 with little money in the post-war exodus from Europe.
The couple divorced a decade after purchasing Sundorne with Ms Dan retaining a life tenancy of the home set along the property’s very long and very private tree-lined drive. Ms Dan divorced Peter in 1968 after learning that his frequent absences from the marital home were because he was living with the then Katalin Frank, also known as Fischer, at the Wentworth Hotel. Sir Peter was knighted in 1972.
The 2550 square metre site has a full-size flood-lit tennis court and in-ground pool with district and harbour views reaching from the city skyline and bridge to Manly in the north. After a long battle with cancer Sir Peter, who relocated to Vaucluse in 1970 paying $450,000 for Villa Igiea, died in June 1999 aged 75. Ms Dan passed away last October.
The property is across the road from the Cranbrook School on the corner of Victoria Road and Rose Bay Avenue, which was known as Gallipoli Avenue until 1926. Sundorne, at 23 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill, was auctioned through Daniel Baran and Reece Coleman at BHR Estate Agents in conjunction with Sydney Sotheby's International.
<img src="/images/stories/2014/01/17/9.png" alt="9" width="68" height="72">
Juliet Clarke, wife of former Investec chief executive David Clarke, sold their Michael Suttor-designed Point Piper home for $15 million. The 1453 square metre Wentworth Place property sold to the Toone family. Alex Toone, who made his name as Credit Suisse's Sydney-based managing director, resigned from the Swiss bank to join the Commonwealth Bank in 2012 as its head of commodities. The Clarke's didn't move far buying next door from the former stock broker John Bowie Wilson and his wife Sally for $8.8 million. The Clarkes had bought in 2001 for $5.8 million from the chairman of Investec, David Gonski, and his wife, dermatologist Orli Wargon who had paid $3 million in 1999.
<img src="/images/stories/2014/01/17/10.png" alt="10" width="93" height="73">
In 10th spot, the Kellys sold their redundant Kutti Beach house for $15 million to fine wine industry specialist Henry Dawson-Damer. The Kellys had bought the Vaucluse property in March 2011 from Michael and Julianne Maxwell paying $15.5 million for the matrimonial home of the former property chief of the Babcock &amp; Brown group. The Maxwells snared the harbourfront residence from Multiplex executive Andrew Roberts and wife Andrea, who were off to Gladswood Gardens, Double Bay. Henry Dawson-Damer already lived in Vaucluse. The Dawson-Damer biography says he is currently studying for the London-based Institute of Masters of Wine program. It was at the age of 15 when Henry had an "explosive" start to his career trying to barrel ferment his first vintage in his mother’s linen cupboard. 
There was nothing explosive about the prestige property market in 2013, as Margie Blok and I conclude in our analysis of the top 20 list in the He Said, She Said column.
 
2013 LIST OF TOP 20 HOUSE SALES
1. $52m – Point Piper, Wunulla Road - March (Agency by Alison Coopes)
2. $33.5m – Point Piper, Wolseley Crescent – April (Ballard)
3. $30m* - Darling Point, Lindsay Avenue – June (Christies, R&amp;WDB &amp; Ballard)
4. $30m* – Rose Bay, Bayview Hill Road – May (Sothebys)
5. $28m – Bellevue Hill, Cranbrook Road – August  (Sothebys)
6. $19m – Vaucluse, The Crescent – May (McGrath, Savills)
7. $16.3m – Darling Point, Eastbourne Road – March (McGrath &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)
8. $15.501m - Bellevue Hill, Victoria Road – May (BHR &amp; Sothebys)
9. $15.25m – Point Piper, Wentworth Place – August (Alison Coopes)
10. $15m – Vaucluse, Vaucluse Road - February (Sothebys)
11. $15m – Vaucluse, The Crescent – May (McGrath)
12. $15m – Bondi, Wilga Street – October (Raine &amp; Horne Double Bay)
13. $14.35m – Point Piper, Wolseley Road – September (1st City Hasemer + Caldwell-Eyles &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)
14. $14m – Vaucluse, Wentworth Road – January (Pillinger &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)
15. $14m – Vaucluse, Wentworth Road – June (LJ Hooker Double Bay)
16. $13.9m* - Mosman, Julian Street – October (Richardson &amp; Wrench Mosman)
17. $13.65m – Point Piper, Wentworth Street – April (Pillinger &amp; Sothebys)
18. $12.5m – Potts Point, Wylde Street – March (Ballard)
19. $12.5m – Watsons Bay, Pacific Street – May (Sothebys)
20. $11.4m - Point Piper, Wentworth Place – February (Richardson &amp; Wrench Double Bay)
(*price not officially recorded/agents associated with marketing)
There will always be an unreported hush-hush sale that occured towards the year end, but it was telling that some 15 sales were transacted during the first six months of 2013. It suggests despite the print headlines spruiking a booming market that the prestige market never quite gained any great momentum. It could almost be that the hefty $52 million Altona, Point Piper sale - which Margie Blok broke news of in early May - actually triggered a renewed bout of ambitiously high expectations among the remaining long-term vendors which just wasn't ever going to be matched by cautious buyers. The sale on Wentworth Road, Vaucluse even saw the sale price drop $1 million from its prior sale price to $14 million, sold at $15 million just three years earlier.
<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_blank">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
 
 
 
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Altona reigns in Title Tattle's subdued top 20 house sales list of 2013

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Perhaps it was the summer heat, not a new year's resolution, but our commentators Jonathan Chancellor and Margie Blok were in unison when it came to analysing the Title Tattle list of <a href="/news/altona-reigns-in-title-tattles-subdued-top-20-house-sales-list-of-2013">last year's top 20 Sydney houses sales</a>.<img alt="jc-silhouette-5" height="300" src="/images/stories/2013/09/06/jc-silhouette-5.jpg" style="float: right;" width="200">

They were both well at home given 19 of the 20 sales were in the eastern suburbs, which of course despite empty pockets, they know like the back of their hands.

2013 LIST OF TOP 20 HOUSE SALES

1. $52m – Point Piper, Wunulla Road - March (Agency by Alison Coopes)

 2. $33.5m – Point Piper, Wolseley Crescent – April (Ballard)

 3. $30m* - Darling Point, Lindsay Avenue – June (Christies, R&amp;WDB &amp; Ballard)

 4. $30m* – Rose Bay, Bayview Hill Road – May (Sothebys)

 5. $28m – Bellevue Hill, Cranbrook Road – August  (Sothebys)

 6. $19m – Vaucluse, The Crescent – May (McGrath, Savills)

 7. $16.3m – Darling Point, Eastbourne Road – March (McGrath &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)

 8. $15.501m - Bellevue Hill, Victoria Road – May (BHR &amp; Sothebys)

 9. $15.25m – Point Piper, Wentworth Place – August (Alison Coopes)

 <img alt="mb-silhouette-4" height="300" src="/images/stories/2013/09/06/mb-silhouette-4.jpg" style="float: left;" width="200">10. $15m – Vaucluse, Vaucluse Road - February (Sothebys)

 11. $15m – Vaucluse, The Crescent – May (McGrath)

 12. $15m – Bondi, Wilga Street – October (Raine &amp; Horne Double Bay)

 13. $14.35m – Point Piper, Wolseley Road – September (1st City Hasemer + Caldwell-Eyles &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)

 14. $14m – Vaucluse, Wentworth Road – January (Pillinger &amp; LJ Hooker Double Bay)

 15. $14m – Vaucluse, Wentworth Road – June (LJ Hooker Double Bay)

 16. $13.9m* - Mosman, Julian Street – October (Richardson &amp; Wrench Mosman)

 17. $13.65m – Point Piper, Wentworth Street – April (Pillinger &amp; Sothebys)

 18. $12.5m – Potts Point, Wylde Street – March (Ballard)

 19. $12.5m – Watsons Bay, Pacific Street – May (Sothebys)

 20. $11.4m - Point Piper, Wentworth Place – February (Richardson &amp; Wrench Double Bay)

(*price not officially recorded/agents associated with marketing)

 

Our commentators came up with 10 insights into the prestige market, without recourse to excitable buyer agency quotes:

1) Of the top 20 sales, only one property was on the north shore - it was 16th on the list, a waterfront in Mosman on the lower north shore. For all the hoopla about the streets of the lower north shore pathed in Chinese diamonds, 34 Julian Street stood alone on the list. No settlement yet, but it sold for about $13.9 million in October through Richardson &amp; Wrench Mosman to a Chinese buyer. The past year contrasted strongly to 2012 when eight of the top 20 were in Mosman with prices ranging between $9.2 million to $20 million, the year's highest when car dealer Laurie Sutton sold through Christies International to Chinese buyers.

2) Of the top 20 sales, four properties were bought by Chinese/Australian community buyers.

3) Piper Piper once again proved to be Sydney’s most expensive real estate, with the pricey suburb claiming the top sale of $52 million for Altona. It was on Wunulla Road this time rather than the dominant Wolseley Road which probably still holds the honors for Sydney's highest priced sale, the $52 million Villa Veneto where St Jean Cap Ferrat wedding plans are underway after a Penn family member's diamond ring engagement over the summer break. Much gaity in Hawaii apparently. Ofcourse those with long memories recall that Altona attracted a $55 million offer back in 2007 which was rejected. The ensuing global financial crisis triggered what would be best called a lacklustre market ever since, with the occasional out of line bright spot that agent Alison pulled off with the much-marketed prime Point Piper listing. All factors considering it was a very healthy price achieved by Alison Coopes. Point Piper also had the year's second highest sale of $33.5 million for the waterfront B &amp; O House on Wolseley Crescent, along with four other properties on the list which cuts out $11.4 million. 

4) There will always be an unreported hush-hush sale that occured towards the year end, but it was telling that some 15 sales were transacted during the first six months of 2013. It suggests despite the print headlines spruiking a booming market that the prestige market never quite gained any great momentum. It could almost be that the hefty $52 million Altona, Point Piper sale - which Margie Blok broke news of in early May - actually triggered a renewed bout of ambitiously high expectations among the remaining long-term vendors which just wasn't ever going to be matched by cautious buyers. One sale on Wentworth Road, Vaucluse even saw the sale price drop $1 million from its prior sale price to $14 million, sold at $15 million just three years earlier.

5) Vaucluse was the second busiest suburb with five properties ranging in price from $14 million to $19 million. And it has the freshest 2014 prestige listing of 9 Coolong Road. Its launch publicity began online Thursday morning for the vendors, Alastair and Gillian Walton, with the emphatic SMH Domain headline, Agents eye $40m for Vaucluse mansion, but within the hour there'd been a revision to the 11.05am headline. It was changed to You'll need more than $30 million for this Vaucluse waterfront. Efforts to erase all published evidence of the $40 million price guidance from Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, podcasts, flipagram et al - and <a href="https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2027004/agents-eye-40m-for-vaucluse-mansion/" target="_blank">every url bar one</a>- went into overdrive in the leadup to its 11.51am republication. The Domain team had done the same thing earlier this year after an erroneous $25 million record Toorak sale report. No doubt the so-called "industry sources" responsible for the hefty Vaucluse price estimate went into hiding out west with egg on their faces. The seven-bedroom home was the one rented by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio in 2011, briefly at around $15,000 a week, during the filming of The Great Gatsby. The hour-long, yet enduring, price mess only served to show how hard it is to bridge the gap between vendor hopes and buyer interest, though we couldn't recall a $10 million gap ever happening in our days in print media from one weekend edition to the next.

6) Inland sales did surprisingly well, though 13 properties in the top 20 were waterfront, waterfront reserve or oceanfront. Denis O'Neil - affectionately known among the family as the Big D - secured $28 million for Addenbrooke, atop Bellevue Hill.

7) Watsons Bay was an interesting mix of divergent prices. Margie Blok got her surveyer's waywiser out to calculate a few prices per square metre. The $12.5 million sale of No 6 Pacific Street (1112 square metre) seems quite steep when compared with the $8 million sale of No 14 Pacific Street (1259 square metres) in September. However, No 6 has a modern house standing on a waterfront block with a swimming pool and the largest private jetty in Watsons Bay, while No 14 has a heritage listed two-storey weatherboard house (among the oldest in the suburb) fronting a huge level lawn running to the water’s edge. But both of these sales are cheap when compared with 2008’s sale of No 4 Pacific Street (1043 sqm) at $22.5 million.

8) The old property adages were evident, though the neighbours being the most likely buyers was only seen the once, and it reflected the other increasingly regular occurance of wealthy private schools getting bigger by buying up the neighbourhood. The last big neighbourhood buy-up was 2012 at Bronte when $16.5 million - a suburb record price – was paid on the prestigious beachside strip known as The Cutting. The Kendalls’s long held home was purchased by their neighbours, Seumas Dawes, a funds manager, and his wife Rosemary Seaton, who bought their large three-level residence in 2006 for $12.3 million, a suburb record at the time. Dawes worked in the public sector, including three years as a senior advisor to the then treasurer Paul Keating, before commencing his career in financial markets in 1989. Last year did see some monopoly board players with the two appearances  - upgrading or empty nesting -  with the Kelly's upsizing in Vaucluse, and the empty nester McWilliams trading, quite nicely, in Point Piper.

9) Heritage makes a rare appearance with Bomera at Potts Point where of course nearby Jenner House had featured on the top sale's list in 2009. Jenner last sold at $15 million by McGrath agent Ben Collier, <a href="/news">and was briefly listed last year without success</a>. Perhaps on the back of the bullish Jenner sale price, Bomera, the 1858 Italianate mansion, was initially listed with $25 million hopes in 2011. The last, at Point Piper, on the list at 20th spot this year was a property ripe for renovation or replacement.

10) Masking the buyer's true identity remains omnipresent. Neither of us are actually aware of who was the buyer at Altona (pictured below). We keep pondering whether they could they be so high profile they don't want to attract attention in their home country, so used the shield of the Melbourne holding company. Jonathan did spot a Mercedes with Victorian numberplates - and lucky 8s - in the Altona driveway while reconnoitering one day, but of course number plate RTA searches are now forbidden. Not even Kate McClymont, the Fairfax Media super sleuth, can get access to  these official records. The B&amp;O house buyer bought using his accountant's name. But it is understood to be the Forbes Rich Lister, the Chinese millionaire Qiu Yafu, who headed the Cubbie Station cotton acquistion. Qiu Yafu - who we gather is known by the name, Jerry - is the chairman of global textiles group Shandong Ruyi. He ranked 356 on The Forbes 400 Richest Chinese in 2007, but no mentions subsequent. No surprise there.

 <img class="decoded" src="/images/stories/2012/09/sept12altona/altona_0000_viewimage.jpg.jpg">

<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/trophy-homes/altona-point-piper-sells-for-possible-%2450-million/2013050160931" target="_blank"> </a>(Photo: Tim Mooney)</div>

 

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<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_blank">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a> 
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The Altona aftermath - buyers baulking at the ambitious asking prices: Sydney's top 20 house sales in 2013: He Said/She Said

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Good on 'em at Ararat for having a shot at mass weight loss on The Biggest Loser which starts this weekend on Channel 10.
Situated about 200 kms from Melbourne, Ararat enjoys a $170,000 median house price.
It's actually shed $10,000 since its 2010 peak median of $180,000, <a target="_blank" href="/news">according to RP Data</a>. 
But it was just $143,000 in 2009.
A 2012 study showed close to 60 percent of the town's 8000 population were obese, triggering its nickname "Fatarat". 
The town has 19o or so properties for sale on realestate.com.au with prices ranging from $29,990 for a block of land up to $890,000 for a block of eight units. There are 39 properties listed on realestateview.com.au.
The dearest published house price is<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-ararat-115725479" target="_blank"> a 1904 house on three aces for $529,000</a> in the town that was founded in 1857 by gold prospectors.
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/6-vincent-street-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-6365615">Art deco</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/9-vincent-street-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-6170061">Californian bungalows</a>, <a href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/23-flattely-street-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-5605263" target="_blank">brick veneer</a>, all housing types.
Opportunities for investors including a $135,000 offering with a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/25-tatyoon-road-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-5568245"> rent return of $190 per week</a> on a 12 month lease until March 2014.
<a href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/14-beveridge-street-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-4865437" target="_blank">Another currently tenanted at $450 per week, on a 2043 square metre block with the potential to subdivide, is for sale at $385,000</a>.
<a href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/32-mast-road-ararat/Property-Details-buy-residential-2182225" target="_blank">Mast Hill winery is for sale at $598,000</a> on realestateview, or a weighter $660,000 on realestate.com.au.
Located at the junction of several major highways, the city has been a stopping off point for tourists exploring the nearby Grampians Ranges and Grampians Pyrenees wine regions.
Its $230 weekly median house rent reflects a seven percent indicative gross rental yield, typically making it one of the best 30 rental opportunities for investors in Victoria.
More than 500 people signed up to be a part of the ninth series of the reality television program that aims to help morbidly obese contestants shed kilos and reshape their lives.
The <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://business-investment-lifestyle.ararat.vic.gov.au/statistics/index/105" target="_blank">Ararat City Council website</a> says the Ararat Rural City estimated resident population is 11,355, with a population density of 0.03 persons per hectare. 
There were 20 residential buildings approved to be built in the financial year 2012-13, well down on previous peaks of up to 58 annually. In the 2013 September quarter, the unemployment rate in Ararat Rural City was 5.35%.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, health care and social assistance and manufacturing are the top industries.
news@propertyobserver.com.au
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Ararat yields more than its Biggest Loser role

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The retired champion swimmer Ian Thorpe has delisted his two-bedroom Hollywood Hills hideaway.
Set in Laurel Canyon, a wooded oasis behind West Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard, it was his home base when in training between Olympics.
The home, described as a treehouse, was listed for sale through Jo O'Key at Brock Real Estate at US$999,000 last October.
The decision to delist the property from sale was timed just before Christmas.
Overlooking Los Angeles from the treetops in the Laurel Canyon haven, it comes with a bit of history of Hollywood glamour.
The house, with Japanese architectural influences, at 8522 Oak Court, Los Angeles was once inhabited by singer activist John Lennon.
The bohemian 960-square-foot bungalow is set in a secluded 5063 square foot location, built by an undisclosed actor in 1961.
Thorpe paid US$879,000 in 2006 for his two-bedroom hideaway The house, with Japanese architectural influences, at <a href="https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8522-Oak-Ct_Los-Angeles_CA_90046_M29609-49766#ixzz2gh77JVuq" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">8522 Oak Court, Los Angeles</a> was once inhabited by singer activist John Lennon.
Laurel Canyon was amid the counterculture activity of the 1960s and many of the world's biggest rock stars made their homes there, including Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison and Joni Mitchell.
The two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom home's huge deck is covered in sun lounges and the master bedroom has sliding Japanese-style rice-paper doors and views over Hollywood.
The kitchen leads out onto open-plan living areas.
The listing, against the backdrop where Los Angeles prices are still around 20% off their peak, made slight reference to the vendor's "celebrated Olympic athlete" status. 
<a href="mailto:news@propertyobserver.com.au" target="_blank">news@propertyobserver.com.au</a>
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Swimming champion Ian Thorpe delists Hollywood Hills property offering

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/freecity">Freecity</a> has received development approval for its 51-storey mixed-use tower at 153-157 Walker Street, North Sydney, set to be one of the tallest mixed-use residential-led buildings in one of Sydney’s most sought-after commercial and residential addresses.

Lodged as a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) through the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) pathway and approved by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure following a comprehensive public exhibition and submissions process, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/153-walker-street-north-sydney-nsw-2060">the project</a> will deliver 296 apartments, alongside a 170-room, luxury hotel, activated retail and significant public domain improvements.

Situated just 200 metres from Victoria Cross Metro Station, on one of the largest developable sites in North Sydney, the development will rise to 234 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings in the suburb. With an end value of approximately $1.5 billion, the project responds directly to the NSW Government’s mandate to accelerate housing delivery in well-located, transit-connected areas.

<img alt="Freecity gets green light for mixed-use residential and hotel tower in North Sydney" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="192ec455-94bf-4e01-83ef-922b1b269d67" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Freecity%20-%20Walker%20Street%20North%20Sydney%201%20RESIZED%20.jpg?VersionId=Bzqp0SBHCDvLAHjA4QXkjuGoOEIh73Jl" />

The apartment mix will cater to a broad range of buyers, with 65 studio and one-bedroom apartments, 139 two-bedroom residences, 35 three-bedroom apartments, 48 four-bedroom homes, and nine penthouses. Residents will have access to a dedicated amenity level on Level 33, featuring a swimming pool with views towards the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and North Sydney CBD, as well as a gym, library, shared kitchen, lounge and outdoor entertaining areas.

The hotel will occupy the lower six levels of the building and include meeting and function spaces, a wellness centre with gym, yoga studio, swimming pool and sauna, further strengthening North Sydney's growing hospitality offering.

At ground level, the development has been designed to improve pedestrian connections through the precinct. More than 700 sqm of retail space will activate the street frontage, while a landscaped through-site link connecting Walker Street, Little Walker Street and Doris Fitton Park will provide new public open space with seating, paving and extensive native landscaping.

Freecity Group Co-Founder and Joint CEO Tony Sun said the project represents one of the most significant development opportunities currently available in North Sydney.

"This is one of the most significant development sites in North Sydney and it comes at a pivotal moment for the precinct," Sun said.

"North Sydney is undergoing a genuine transformation, and this project will contribute housing the city urgently needs while creating a landmark destination."

Executive Director of Development Michael Romano said demand for both residential and hotel accommodation would continue to strengthen as the Metro precinct matures.

"The structural demand for high-quality housing and hotel accommodation in North Sydney is compelling, and will only grow as the precinct continues to evolve around the new Metro station," Romano said.

Architectus has designed the tower, orientating the apartments to maximise views towards Sydney Harbour while introducing a sculpted façade intended to respond to light, wind and the surrounding skyline.

Architectus Principal Marko Damic said the design sought to create a tower that contributes to the public realm as much as the skyline.

"We wanted to design a tower that doesn't just sit in the skyline but actively participates and contributes to city life," Damic said.

Joel Robinson

First look: Freecity gets green light for mixed-use apartment and hotel tower in North Sydney

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/abadeen">Abadeen</a> and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/perifa">PERIFA</a> have celebrated the topping out of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf,</a> marking a significant milestone in the delivery of one of Syd​ney's most anticipated waterfront communities.

Located on Sydney's harbourfront at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/putney-nsw-2112">Putney</a>, the project has now reached its highest structural point, with construction progressing strongly towards completion in 2027. 
&nbsp; 
The milestone was celebrated on-site with project partners Phoenix Property Investors, Mitsubishi Estate Asia, Versatile Construction, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/sjb-architects">SJB</a>, consultants and stakeholders, to recognise the collective effort behind the transformation of the historic waterfront site into a vibrant new residential, marina and lifestyle destination.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=13962 project_image_fid=362240] 
&nbsp; 
<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> will deliver a mix of waterfront residences and terraces, complemented by a private 36-berth marina, waterfront dining opportunities and a revitalised foreshore designed to reconnect the community with the river's edge. 
&nbsp; 
Abadeen Executive Chairman and Founder Justin Brown said the project represented a rare opportunity to create the next chapter in Sydn​ey's long history of successful waterfront precincts. 
&nbsp; 
"Throughout Sydney, some of the city's most sought-after addresses have emerged from carefully considered waterfront precincts such as Woolloom​ooloo Wharf, Walsh Bay and Breakfast Point," Brown said.

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&nbsp; 
"What makes these places so successful is that they become much more than residential developments," Brown said.

"They bring together homes, hospitality, marina facilities, public spaces and a strong sense of community in locations where future supply is incredibly limited."

Brown has long described absolute waterfront land in Sy​dney as "finite."

"Once these opportunities are developed, they are rarely replicated. That's why Syd​ney's waterfront precincts have consistently demonstrated strong demand and long-term value growth over many decades. 
&nbsp; 
"<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> is one of the few remaining opportunities to secure a residence within a masterplanned waterfront community that combines direct water access, marina ownership opportunities and a genuine village lifestyle just moments from the Sy​dney CBD."

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&nbsp; 
PERIFA Founder and Managing Director Fabrizio Perilli said the project reflected a shared commitment to delivering exceptional places that create long-term value for residents and the broader community. 
&nbsp; 
"The topping out milestone is a significant achievement for the Versatile Group and a testament to the collaboration between all project partners, consultants and contractors involved," Perilli said. 
&nbsp; 
"Beyond the residences themselves, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> will establish a new waterfront destination that celebrates the history, character and lifestyle of this unique location while creating a lasting legacy for future generations."

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&nbsp; 
Construction is being delivered by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/versatile">Versatile Construction</a>, with structural works now substantially complete across the precinct. Attention will progressively shift to the construction of the waterview terraces, apartment façades, services and interior fit-out works over the coming months. 
&nbsp; 
With limited residences and marina berths remaining, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> continues to attract strong interest from owner occupiers and downsizers seeking a premium waterfront lifestyle within close proximity to Putne​y Village, Rh​odes, Top Ry​de and the Syd​ney CBD. 
&nbsp; 
As one of the last opportunities to secure a residence within a new masterplanned waterfront community on Sy​dney Harbour, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> is expected to remain a highly sought-after address for years to come.

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Abadeen, PERIFA, top out Putney Wharf harbourfront precinct

Kew has long been regarded as one of Melbourne's premier residential suburbs. It's a location defined by its grand period homes, leafy streets and some of the city's most prestigious schools, yet it has often sat just outside the spotlight cast on neighbouring Hawthorn and Camberwell.

Increasingly, however, buyers are recognising that Kew offers much of what draws people to those suburbs, with a quieter residential setting, exceptional amenity and long-term owner-occupier appeal.

Within a few minutes' walk, residents can access Kew Junction, one of Melbourne's most established village centres. Cafés, bakeries, restaurants, supermarkets, boutique retailers and everyday services are all on the doorstep, with local favourites including Centonove, Adeney Milk Bar Cafe, and Frank &amp; Harri creating the type of walkable lifestyle that has become increasingly difficult to find in Melbourne's inner east. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood, Glenferrie Road's renowned shopping and dining precinct in Hawthorn and the retail, dining and entertainment offerings of Camberwell Junction are both just a short drive or tram ride away.

The suburb is equally well connected. Tram routes 48 and 109 provide direct access to the CBD, while High Street and Cotham Road connect residents to the wider inner east.&nbsp;Nearby access to the Eastern Freeway also places the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne Airport within easy reach, adding another layer of convenience for weekend travel.&nbsp;It's a rare combination of connectivity and tranquillity, where quiet residential streets sit just moments from some of Melbourne's most established shopping and lifestyle precincts.

For families, Kew remains one of Melbourne's most tightly held addresses. Carey Baptist Grammar School, Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College, Trinity Grammar, Ruyton Girls' School and Genazzano FCJ College are all nearby, while the Yarra River parklands, walking trails and sporting clubs provide another layer of lifestyle appeal.

It's within this established pocket that developer Ricdanic is delivering <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/wimba-ave-kew-9-11-wimba-avenue-kew-vic-3101">Wimba Ave</a>, a boutique collection of just 13 residences across two buildings named after its location on the tree-lined Wimba Avenue,&nbsp;within one of Kew's most prestigious pockets where homes have been known to sell up to and above $8 million.

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The residences prioritise the space that buyers are increasingly searching for but struggling to find in established suburbs. Living areas extend beyond five metres in width, ceiling heights range from three to five metres, and apartments open onto private gardens averaging around 125 sqm. Selected residences also feature balconies of approximately 60 sqm, while premium inclusions include Miele appliances, double-glazed windows, EV readiness, fully electric systems and a 7.2 NatHERS energy rating.

Architect Chris Idle says opportunities to deliver homes of this scale within established suburbs have become increasingly uncommon.

"There are very few opportunities to do these kinds of developments in leafy, established suburbs," he says. "To get this level of amenity, natural light, and architectural freedom in such a setting is extremely rare."

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The architecture draws on Kew's established character through the use of handmade Krause bricks, while landscaping by John Patrick introduces 23 plant species, including nine native varieties, creating an environment which focuses just as much on nature as it does the building.

Construction on Wimba Ave is well underway by renowned high-end builder Sinjen, with completion expected in late 2027. Prices start from $2.22 million.

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The enduring appeal of Kew's tree-lined streets and village lifestyle

"For me, it's the location." That was the first thing Chris pointed to when reflecting on why he and his wife Marita decided to purchase at Candela Ivanhoe, the under-construction new apartment development by Salter Brothers in the heart of the north-eastern M​elb​ourne​ suburb. ​

"We've lived here before… everything is here," Chris said.

"Our doctor is around the corner, there's dentists, pilates, everything we need, restaurants, fast food places, two train stations, Ivanhoe and Darebin, both in walking distance. You don't need anything else."

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Just 10 kilometres from Melbo​urn​e's CBD, Ivanhoe combines direct city connectivity with the amenity of an established village community. Residents have access to highly regarded schools, expansive parklands, public transport, and a thriving retail and hospitality precinct centred around Upper Heidelberg Road, all within a neighbourhood that has retained its leafy character despite its proximity to the city.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/candela-ivanhoe-40-upper-heidelberg-road-ivanhoe-vic-3079">Candela Ivanhoe</a> sits within the heart of this established landscape, positioned just moments from Ivanhoe Village and within walking distance of many of the suburb's most sought-after amenities.

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From Candela, residents can access cafés, grocers, wine bars, restaurants and essential services on foot, while Ivanhoe Station and Darebin Station provide direct connectivity across Mel​bour​ne. The development is also surrounded by some of the suburb's best-known lifestyle destinations, including Pinkie, Laurent, Enni, Docasa and Woodfire Pizza e Cucina, alongside Ivanhoe Plaza, Woolworths, pharmacies and specialty retailers.

Green space is another defining feature of the suburb. Darebin Parklands, Ivanhoe Park, Nellie Ibbot Park and the Yarra River trail network provide extensive opportunities for recreation, while Ivanhoe Golf Course and Ivanhoe Tennis Club continue to underpin the area's long-established lifestyle appeal.

The suburb's education offering further strengthens demand. Ivanhoe Grammar School, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, Mary Immaculate Primary School and Ivanhoe Primary School have helped establish the area as one of Melbou​​rne's most sought-after schooling precincts, attracting families and downsizers alike who want to remain connected to the area.

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While location was the priority for Marita and Chris, the project itself also needed to meet their expectations.

"Whilst location was paramount, I was also looking at design of the environment and Candela ticked every box," Marita said.

"We're just thrilled with our choice."

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Developed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/salter-brothers">Salter Brothers</a>, Candela Ivanhoe has been designed to complement its village setting, with an emphasis on generous floorplans, natural light and practical everyday living.

Residents will have access to a range of shared amenities, including a communal rooftop garden and dedicated residential lounge, complemented by a ground-floor café and lifestyle wellbeing centre, helping foster the sense of community already emerging among future owners.

That approach has resonated strongly with the market. More than 90 per cent of purchasers at Candela Ivanhoe are owner-occupiers, with buyers ranging from downsizers and second-home buyers to young families and first home buyers, creating a genuinely multi-generational community of grandparents, parents and children. It reflects a broader shift across Melbo​​urne's apartment market, where buyers are increasingly prioritising neighbourhood quality, lifestyle amenity and long-term liveability.

Currently under construction by Ironside, Candela Ivanhoe comprises 58 apartments. Candela Ivanhoe is scheduled for completion in the coming months, and residents can move in from September. One to four bedroom residences, prices from $649,000 and limited opportunities remaining.

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Location and lifestyle drive demand at Candela Ivanhoe

As apartment buyers increasingly look beyond the four walls of their residence, the quality and depth of shared amenity has become a defining factor in how developments are designed and experienced, particularly in the high-rise, new apartment development space.

In Southbank, where high-density living continues to evolve, developers are placing greater emphasis on creating environments that support wellbeing, connection, and convenience as part of everyday life.

That approach sits at the heart of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/aura-at-melbourne-square-7-hoff-boulevard-southbank-vic-3006">AURA</a>, the latest residential tower in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/osk-property">OSK Property</a>’s $3.5 billion Melbourne Square precinct. Rising 67 storeys above Hoff Boulevard, the 673-apartment development has been conceived around what OSK describes as a “vertical wellness ecosystem”, a layered collection of amenities that extends throughout the building rather than being confined to a single podium level.

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The amenity offering begins on the seventh level within the AURA Club, a dedicated resident hub focused on health, relaxation, and daily convenience. Here, residents will have access to an indoor swimming pool, cold plunge, spa, sauna, and steam room, alongside a fully equipped gym, reformer Pilates studio, and yoga room.

The wellness facilities are complemented by a range of spaces that acknowledge the changing ways people live and work. Work-from-home lounges and co-working areas sit alongside a library, music room, games room, cinema facilities, and open-air terrace spaces, providing residents with flexible environments that can adapt throughout the day.

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Beyond the internal amenity, AURA introduces a series of Japanese-inspired gardens that form a quieter counterpoint to the tower’s social spaces.

Landscaped retreats feature curated outdoor dining, tranquil courtyard seating, fire pit, and a tea house pavilion. Rather than functioning as simple recreational areas, the gardens have been designed as places for reflection and informal gathering, drawing on principles of balance, nature, and calm that underpin the project's broader design philosophy.

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The social amenity continues to evolve as residents move higher through the building. Levels 49 and 50 house the Meridian Club, where a lounge bar, conservatory spaces, and private dining rooms take advantage of elevated city views. At the summit of the tower, the exclusive Cumulus Club spans Levels 66 and 67, offering additional lounges, private dining, and meditation and treatment rooms positioned above Melbourne’s skyline.

For OSK Property, the extensive amenity offering reflects a broader focus on wellbeing as a core component of apartment living rather than an added feature.

“Aura stands tall as an exemplar of holistic wellness – its focus on social, physical and mental health culminate in a building that is calming, restorative and relaxing, where residents will have their own sanctuary within the well-connected and sought-after Southbank,” says OSK Property CEO Chong Boon Woon.

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AURA’s amenity strategy extends beyond the tower itself through its integration with the wider Melbourne Square precinct.

Residents will have direct access to Kennedy Park, Southbank’s 3,745 sqm landscaped public park, alongside a full-line Woolworths supermarket, childcare centre, hospitality venues, and approximately 1,600 sqm of additional retail planned within AURA’s lower levels. Together, these elements create a highly connected residential environment where daily needs, recreation, and wellness are woven into the fabric of the community.

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As Melbourne’s apartment market continues to mature, developments are increasingly judged by the lifestyle they provide beyond individual residences.

Through its combination of wellness facilities, landscaped retreats, social clubs, and precinct-wide amenity, AURA represents a shift toward a more comprehensive model of vertical living, one where shared spaces play as significant a role as the homes themselves.

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Jonathan Chancellor

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