Hawthorn hits its straps as reserves bettered by $1 million in auctions timed to the max

Hawthorn hits its straps as reserves bettered by $1 million in auctions timed to the max
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Breakneck bidding for 38 Kooyongkoot Road, Hawthorn, took its weekend sale price almost $1 million above its $4.1 million reserve.

It was sold for $5,085,000 to an Australian expatriate family living in Singapore who were watching on via Skype with family members also at the onsite auction.

The stellar pricing was all in the timing for the five-bedroom house (pictured above) in the coveted Scotch Hill precinct.

The result came days after the mid-week private auction of another five-bedroom period house at 3 Kembla Street (pictured below), which smashed its reserve by more than $900,000 selling on Wednesday night at $5.35 million.

There had been a $4.4 million pre-auction offer for the property on Kembla Street - from its eventual buyer - that prompted its same day Saturday scheduled auction to be brought foward by four days after the property had attracted more than 100 inspections over its marketing campaign.

"Strategically we made the decision to bring it forward so to ensure that it had all bidders present at the auction as opposed to waiting for sale day and potentially losing [some bidders]," listing agent James Redfern said.

Land title records show the vendors, olympic rower David England and wife Susan, bought the home for $2,125,000 in 2001. 

It attracted seven bidders on 1890 slated-roof Victorian home with some of those who missed out at the Wednesday night auction back at 38 Kooyongkoot Road Saturday afternoon.

Marshall White listing agent Justin Krongold acknowledged the Kembla Street sale had set a benchmark for his auction.

"If not for [Kembla's] result, perhaps if the auction was later today as it had planned to be, it could have been a very different situation," he told Fairfax Media.

Buyers agent Mal James noted a few weeks ago he gave a client advice that this Kooyongkoot Road home with good bones for a renovation on 1,038 square metres should go in the $3.7 million to $4.2 million range, based on the market being the same as last year.

The $3.5 million to $4 million initial price quote implied just below or just above $4 million as the hoped for expectation which James viewed as "not unachievable, but not a given, though it was not unrealistic either" when he first inspected it.

"By last week we had upped our advice to $4.5 million as the top figure," James pondered.

"A few days ago our comment to our client was it could hit $5 million after the 3 Kembla result around the corner as there were six wounded underbidders left over on this James Redfern midweek auction.

"Has the market for these types of homes gone up 5%, 10% or 20% since December or am I just losing my marbles?"

Just a year ago Hawthorn's prestige market was ordinary at best.

Avon Court, the high profile Hawthorn mansion, sold off market in May last year in the suburb's top 2014 sale. But the $19.8 million price showed negative price growth since the Shakespeare Grove property had been purchased by Autobarn boss Garry Dumbrell in 2009 for $20,250,000 when sold by the former Richmond Football Club president Clinton Casey and his wife, Leslie who had Ross Savas at Kay & Burton hire Jo Silvagni to be the face of its print and video campaign. 

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Prices have gone backwards on prestige residential offerings on the lower end of the scale over recent years in Hawthorn.

The 1930-built, 2000-reburbished house at 17 Callantina Road sold at $2.68 million in 2013 having previously sold at a tearaway $2.86 million in 2008. Not even leafy gardens designed by Edna Walling could stop the price collapse.

Another loss taker was when the 2007-built four bedroom house at 16 Burton Avenue sold at $3.34 million in late 2013. It had sold in 2008 at $3.45 million.

Signs of ordinary price growth were also evident in a $2,775,000 Kooyongkoot Road sale in 2013 which had previously sold at $2.6 million in 2007.

The Bai family of Burwood spent $2.83 million to buy 51 Chrystobel Crescent which had been listed in 2011 with $3.4 million hopes. The 2011 auction of the solid 1880 home in the Grace Park precinct had been passed in on a $3.05 million offer in front of around 100 people.

A six bedroom Hawthorn East mansion sold in early 2014 at $3,235,000 at Jellis Craig auction that was just $35,000 more than its prior $3.2 million sale in 2011. 

The Chinese Australian vendor at 4 Mount Ida Avenue didn't cover the stamp duty with the house price - and this was on its second marketing campaign.

In mid-2013 retired Western Bulldogs champion, turned 3MMM breakfast broadcaster, AFL commentator and publican, Luke Darcy upgraded his Hawthorn home, despite his sentimentality for the rejuvenated Footscray suburb.

Darcy commented during the spring 2014 selling season that he'd detected an uptick in the Hawthorn auction prices.

Luke and Rebecca Darcy secured $2,975,000 in Hawthorn when selling in 2013 having paid $2.82 million in 2007, reflecting less than one percent annual growth through the six years.

The Darcy's upgraded to a nearby $3.2 million house which might now seem have been a good time to upgrade homes while prices where constrained.

Their new property had been built by the Toorak-bound MAB managing director Andrew Buxton.

The four bedroom house, with study, is in a prime Scotch Hill spot with a pool and tennis court set on more than 1000 square metres. 

The former Harcourt Street, Hawthorn East home of the since departed AFL boss Andrew Demetriou resold with negligible price appreciation too in 2013. The four bedroom renovated 1965 home at 50 Harcourt Street, which was offloaded by Demetriou in 2008 for $2.7 million, was sold at $2,742,500 in 2013. Just $42,500 gain in the five years.

The 2012 top sale in Hawthorn was on Kooyongkoot Road, Hawthorn was sold by Craig Parsell, who was Hong Kong based when he bought it in 2002 for $3.45 million. Parsell is a veteran executive partner in the technology services company Accenture. Known as Koot, its situated in the heart of the Scotch Hill precinct. It's got a tennis court and pool on its 2,788-square-metre holding. The $12,588,000 buyer was company director Juhne Lie. 

Kay & Burton secured 2013's highest sale which was $11 million the the 1883 mansion, Katoomba on Harcourt Street, in Hawthorn East. It came with Stuart Rattle interiors and Paul Bangay gardens done for the Laidlaw family who sold to the Bailey family.

Mal James since that the results of the past week of prestige Melbourne offerings were not evidence that the market has gone crazy.

"[The market] is responding to fundamentals and the fundamentals are incredibly strong right now for larger landholdings with flexibility," James said.

"That is why we have been strong on buying for clients for the last 24 months and are continuing to do so.

"Those fundamentals are turbo charged overseas demand completely out of whack with the dwindling supply of certain home types described above.

"So unless the wealth of overseas buyers drops (and it has increased for the last 40 years), or the government intervenes (showing no stomach to do so on any serious note at present) or Chinese buyers (in particular) reverse their preference to landbank (reducing supply even further) then the market is doing what it is doing based on sound demand and supply principles, not anything else.

"This may well continue for some time (with the odd hiccup).

"We wrote a number of times last year that each month was either a tread or a step in a rising staircase on price which reignited in October 2012 and hasn’t stopped since.

"But February 2015 is different – it has jumped off the staircase, gone up a whole floor in the lift (for the above types of properties) and we assume will now continue on its merry way."

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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