Residential

Month in Review
September 2016
Traditionally the inner west market demanded period
homes and new builds were considered out of place.
However, recently the latter have increased in both
popularity and supply due to up-sizers wanting
to stay in the inner west market, but satisfy their
craving for more flexible living areas and modern
features. For example 100 Allen Street, Leichhardt,
featuring 4-bedrooms, 2-bathrooms, double
garage and in-ground pool, sold for $2,700,000 by
Bresicwhiteney Estate Agents. This was well above
expectations and generated a high level of interest
throughout its campaign.
The eastern suburbs have also seen a spike in
interest in newly renovated properties and newly
built properties. With the rising costs of renovating
older style Victorian terraces and semis, the shift
to move in and enjoy with nothing to do properties
has generated high levels of interest and record
prices. From Little Bay to Dover Heights, the East
is seeing an increasing number of duplex style
properties being constructed with the market already
accustomed to smaller parcels of land than other
parts of Sydney. An example of the popularity of
this type of product in the market is the recent sale
of 4a Owen Street, North Bondi. This is a modern
3-bedroom, 3-bathroom strata titled duplex with
single garage, modern high quality features, study,
cinema room, rear deck and established landscaping
on around 220 square metres of land. The property
sold at auction for $2,751,500 through Ray White
Double Bay after a four week campaign.
In the south, larger blocks with big homes popular
from the 1970s through to the early 2000s are slowly
being phased out with the market demanding a
modern, high tech, yet low maintenance lifestyle and
the original land owner being able to capitalise on the
lack of available land and subdivide the parent parcel
to form two allotments.
New duplexes have proved extremely popular in
the southern suburbs even on parcels as small as
275 square metres. Larger back yards requiring
constant maintenance are becoming less sought
after. A recent example of an architectural dwelling
on a small parcel is 53B Oleander Parade, Caringbah
South. The original parcel was subdivided into two
smaller lots (approximately 450 square metres each)
and attracted high levels of interest with high quality
features, low maintenance grounds and plunge pool,
setting a new benchmark of $2.105 million at auction.
Not all new products feature in this price bracket but
most modern townhouses and attached duplexes are
now achieving $1 million plus.
With significant capital growth over the past five to
ten years, what was originally the family home has
often been held on to as an investment property
when the owners upgrade. In areas such as the
eastern suburbs, it is common for these properties to
be in $2 million to $3 million price bracket.
Prestige market
Prestige residential property in Sydney is generally
considered to be properties valued at greater than
$3 million. Prestige homes are scattered throughout
the greater Sydney metropolitan area, with the
highest concentrations in the eastern suburbs and
eastern beaches, inner city and inner east, inner west
and the lower and upper north shores.
Prestige property types cover
a wide range of dwellings and
apartments, with no single
property type truly representative
of the whole of the prestige
market.
Traditionally, freestanding dwellings on larger
allotments have been the sought after ideal,
however over the past decade, the lines have blurred
considerably as property values continue to rise
throughout Sydney.
In the sub $5 million bracket, prestige property
can include terraces homes, freestanding homes
on small, medium and larger allotments, converted
warehouses, townhouses and both period and
contemporary apartments.
Residential
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