Latest news with #SydneyRealEstate
News.com.au
06-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Unfinished, unliveable: Abandoned Sydney homes sell for millions
It's half a home for nearly three times the typical price – a partially built house in Sydney's south is set to go to auction after the owner pulled the plug on a major renovation midway through the project. The house on Queens Rd in Connells Point is expected to sell under the hammer for over $4 million – well above the current median Sydney house price of $1.55 million. The rear of the property has had half of its roofing stripped, and the central garden looks like the set of a home renovation show, with a scrapheap of building materials scattered around. The house is the latest in a recent string of neglected Sydney homes to attract massive prices – many selling after scheduled renovation works were abandoned. These sales have come as builders continue to grapple with rising materials and labour costs, which has often meant many approved building and renovation projects are no longer feasible. Selling agent for the Connells Point property Rami Abdallah of Prestige Property Group said there was a reasonable level of interest in the incomplete home with Georges River views. Mr Abdallah said the home's rugged appearance is the result of a scrapped renovation. '(The owner) literally half knocked the house down, you can see from the photos,' he said. 'He was originally going to renovate and then just sat on the block of land for a couple of years and now he's decided to sell it off.' Mr Abdallah said the estimated sale price is based on the home's development potential and location near Moore Reserve. 'To me, all evidence is pointing towards a circa $4 million (sales) mark,' he said. A similarly dilapidated home was sold last weekend for over $1 million at 685 Princes Highway, Blakehurst. Belle Property St George sales partner Patrick Wedes said the property was unliveable when he first began preparing it for selling in October last year. 'It was in no state of being habitable,' he said. 'You couldn't live in it and you couldn't rent it to anybody. 'We've got holes in walls, holes in ceilings, we've got powerpoints hanging off the walls. 'None of the kitchen or bathroom facilities work. 'The power is working on the top half of the home, but not the bottom.' Mr Wedes explained that the homeowner had been admitted to a nursing home, resulting in the property becoming worse for wear over time. 'He had been involved with the property, from what we understand, since the late 60s,' he said. 'It would have been no doubt a very stately home in its time.' Mr Wedes said there were a total of 41 bids on the property which ended up selling for $1.6 million dollars. According to Mr Wedes, the property would cost at least $600,000 at trade price to refurbish, or between $1.3 and $1.5 million to rebuild.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside NRL star Nat Butcher's brand new multi-million dollar Sydney home as it hits the market
NRL star Nat Butcher and his wife Harmony have listed their brand new Sydney home on the market. The Sydney Roosters player and the model recently completed the stunning duplex in Matraville, which is set to be auctioned on July 19. Future Flip, a Sydney-based design and construction company, demolished the existing two-storey home that the couple had purchased for $2.71million. In its place on the 771-square-metre parcel of land, there are now two homes - one of which the couple are selling and the other they intend to live in. The property boasts five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a double garage, 'expansive open plan', and a rear lawn that features an inground swimming pool. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The interior design has been led by Harmony, who has been documenting her sponsored styling journey with James Lane furniture on Instagram. 'The most exciting part of this build has been turning four walls into a space we call home,' she captioned a carousel of photos posted this month. According to the listing, the home is 'flooded with natural light' thanks to an extraordinarily high stud ceiling. 'The build took just 10 months,' Harmony told The Daily Telegraph. 'Quality is important to us; we didn't want to compromise on the build or finishes. 'We had control over the finishes and layout and took on board the architect's great ideas. They brought our vision to life.' She praised the sunken lounge and open fireplace trimmed in white stone as her two favourite features. Listing photos show breezy beachside interiors that use light coloured wood and textured stone to accent the tall white walls. The large open kitchen features a butler's pantry and 'sand concrete' countertops and island, with fully integrated appliances. The four main bedrooms, including the large primary suite, are located upstairs alongside a family living room on the upper level. On the ground level, is the open plan kitchen, dining, and sunken lounge - which opens onto an alfresco dining area, landscaped backyard, and the swimming pool. An additional fifth bedroom is housed on the ground floor, alongside an ensuite bathroom. Sydney Roosters star Nat, who was recently ruled out of playing for the next six weeks due to injury, said the the turn-key home will appeal to a growing family like theirs. The sale comes after the couple announced the birth of their son Beau back in April. 'It's crazy to believe a love like this exists. We are all happy and healthy and enjoying our little love bubble,' the pair said at the time. Friends and fans were quick to share their congratulations with the couple. 'Ohhh he's soooo perfect. Congratulations you two,' one fan wrote. 'Huge congratulations to you both :) You look radiant and how gorgeous is Beau xx.' 'Okay, this is the absolute best and he is just PRECIOUS and beautiful. So are you!! Congratulations and well done mumma!' another commented. 'Tears in my eyes looking through all these amazing photos and videos. How special ! Welcome to the world little man. We can't wait to meet you xxxx.'
Daily Telegraph
17-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
2025 Sydney house price record broken twice in a week
The 2025 Sydney house price record has been broken twice in a week, with two sales totalling more than $110m. First came news yesterday via sources that the Point Piper mansion of Retail Apparel Group co-founder Stephen Liebowitz and his wife, Pam had sold for $55m, via Ray White Double Bay's Adam Reichman and Elliott Placks in conjunction with Michael Pallier of Sotheby's. The sale occurred last week but was being kept under wraps. And then, last night, an Instagram post from Ray White Double Bay's Riki Tawhara confirmed the sale of 38 Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse, owned by 98-year-old philanthropist Isaac Wakil, that's sold 'above our guide of $55m'. MORE: Billionaire chicken heiresses record-breaking sale MORE Lowe heirs Point Piper mansion sells Whereas the first sale equalled the previous 2025 record $55m house price sale in February, of 12 Dumaresq Rd, Rose Bay, this latest deal exceeds that. The big sales must be exciting news for Ray White Double Bay principal, Elliott Placks, who had a hand in both deals, as he prepares to move into his new five-storey Double Bay HQ next month. Placks was tight-lipped about the buyers of both properties, citing NDAs, though it's known he had multiple buyers on both which helped create urgency. Still, the vendors had to accept considerable discounts on their previous price guides, with the Liebowitzs original guide of February, 2024, $65m. And although the most recent guide for the Vaucluse property may have been $55m, when it hit the market last month it was reported at 'around $70m'. The Dumaresq Rd, Rose Bay property that sold in February, owned by recycled shopping bag tycoon Frank Qiang Gengh and his wife Juanjuan Zhao, took a $20m price cut. Dyson Austen prestige property valuer Simon Feilich had a simple explanation for the recent rush of sales as the end of financial year approaches. 'The main driver is the low Aussie dollar and lower interest rates driving increased asset prices.' Isaac Wakil had owned the Vaucluse Rd 1400sqm property, with its house set for the demolition ball but with panoramic Sydney Harbour views, for 65 years. Isaac and his late wife Susan were both immigrants from Romania and Iraq and had no children. They owned a range of commercial properties across Sydney, including the Terminus Hotel in Pyrmont and the landmark Griffiths Tea building in Surry Hills.
Daily Telegraph
01-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Home prices adjusted to inflation expose huge baby boomer wealth
Hopeful Sydney homebuyers are paying substantially more money for properties relative to the cost of everything else than any recent generation before them, alarming new analysis has revealed – rubbishing claims baby boomers had it harder because of higher interest rates. The exclusive PropTrack study showed current prices were four times higher than in 1980 once adjusted for inflation, with a typical house back then costing $65,000, the same as $338,000 in today's money. It's a far sight from the $1.47 million Sydney houses are typically selling for in 2025. The research measured housing costs across each decade, showing property prices over the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s were also markedly cheaper than today when compared to other living costs at the time. Sydney's $187,000 median house price in 1990 was equivalent to $447,300 in today's money, while the $285,000 median in 2000 was worth $544,000 in 2025 dollars. MORE: 40yo 'disappointed' he only has 300 homes Even buyers who snapped up homes in 2010 paid significantly less than today in real terms. The average house back then cost $600,000, which would translate to about $874,300 once adjusted for inflation. SEE WHAT HOMES REALLY USED TO COST IN YOUR SUBURB REA Group economist Eleanor Creagh said the incredible differences in the real cost of housing over the decades showed current first-home buyers faced challenges like no generation before them. 'To boil down the challenges for first-home buyers to overspending on travel or smashed avocado is narrow and simplistic,' she said. 'Every generation has its own unique struggles but on the whole today's buyers are navigating a fundamentally different landscape with structural housing barriers baby boomers did not have. 'The deposit and stamp duty burden is much higher, affordability is more stretched and prices have vastly outpaced wage growth.' Ms Creagh said home prices in 2025 were significantly more expensive than the real costs of housing in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s because of sweeping cultural, social and economic changes. These included the rise of dual income families as the predominant class of buyers and an interrupted run of economic growth between 1991 and 2020 that saw Australia stave off a recession. Markedly lower interest rates than in the 1980s and 1990s, and the resulting boost in spending power this gave buyers, was another factor that drove up prices, Ms Creagh said. Building costs have also risen. 'There are a lot of factors,' she said. 'The Australian population has grown by about 10 million since the 1980s and most of that growth has been concentrated in city markets where the supply of new housing has been constrained. 'There's also been a cultural shift. Property is a much more popular vehicle for wealth creation and when you combine that with economic deregulation and tax incentives, it's helped push prices up.' PropTrack economist Angus Moore said the lower prices paid by previous generations, even once adjusted for inflation, indicated younger people had a harder entry into the housing market. 'The deposit hurdle is just unequivocally harder than it was four or five decades ago, and that has manifested in home ownership rates which have fallen over those years,' Mr Moore said. Young people were taking longer to enter the market, relying more on family support to stump up a deposit, or making use of government incentives to buy with a smaller deposit, Mr Moore said. McGrath Hunters Hill agent Antonios Kanis said decades of price gains, while being an incredible wealth creator for owners, have come with a downside. 'Some homeowners want to move but can't because if they sold they wouldn't be able to get back into their own area. There's always a shortage of stock and that keeps prices high,' Mr Kanis said. Among the homeowners in this position are Wareemba residents Georgia and Malcolm Clark: they wanted to upsize from their current duplex to a house in the area but prices have exploded in the eight years since they bought. 'We love it here, it's got such a great community, but we've become priced out,' Ms Clark said, adding that they were now selling up their home at 345 Great North Rd and planning to relocate to a cheaper area. 'Those recent rate cuts will help with borrowing power but we also think it might heat up prices. We just hope that because we are buying and selling in the same market it will balance out.'
News.com.au
29-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
The Rocks Sirius penthouse for sale for $45m to $50m
Iconic for its landmark location and brutalist architecture, Sirius, made headlines after being transformed from a government housing estate into a $585m 76-unit luxury apartment project with arguably the best view in Sydney. The crowning penthouse made an appearance last year with $45m to $50m price hopes, but never found its deep-pocketed buyer. It has now resurfaced with a similar asking price, a new agent, and a revitalised interior offering. 'We've invigorated the apartment with new furniture, artwork, and added some extra luxury items,' said Steven Chen of The Agency, who has co-listed the penthouse with colleague Luke Hayes. The pair have a handful more to sell in the building. The penthouse's owner has been reported as former Macquarie banker Jean-Dominique Hugh of developer JDH Capital, which brought the building back in 2019 from the State Government for $150m. It had been an in-house off-the-plan deal for a rumoured $35m. More than a simple reshuffle of staged furniture, the sky-high home comes with an updated $500,000 furniture package including soft furnishings, art and designer clothing curated by Jack Freeman of Cohen Freeman. The home's interiors were crafted by London-based guru, Kelly Hoppen. 'It's never been lived in and comes fully turnkey, with about half a million dollars worth of bespoke brand new furniture and hand-picked artwork. So it's a very elevated, world class level of finish,' Chen said. While the inside of the 430sq m four-bedroom, five-bathroom penthouse is impressive, the enviable view is the home's wow factor, according to Chen. 'You can look at the beautiful photos, but when you're actually there you realise that Sydney Harbour is such an incredible world stage. It's probably the closest point you'll get in a new building with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House right in front of you. The view is absolutely stunning. Especially at the moment with all the lights from Vivid,' he said. 'In my job I see Sydney Harbour every day, but this is just spectacular from its unique vantage point.' Despite the apartment not securing a buyer in 2024, Chen said the moment is right for the prestige penthouse. 'It's the perfect timing for a relaunch. The holidays have passed and the election has finished. 'We're seeing a lot of interstate clients looking for turnkey lock up and leave homes. 'There's interest from Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Even international permanent residency clients have resurfaced in a big way since we launched a week ago.' The Sirius penthouse at 38 Cumberland St features 40sq m of outdoor entertaining space including a private pool, a custom-made kitchen with hand-selected joinery and marble, as well as Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, ensuites to all four bedrooms, plus a primary suite with its own lounge room, study, steam shower bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. There are also two living rooms, an internal elevator, custom stucco walls, a private entry lobby, two separate entry doors, and secure parking for three cars. Sirius has a 24/7 concierge service, a five-star gym, heated swimming pool and sauna, a sophisticated residents' lounge and meeting room.
