House sales showing Hunters Hill is Sydney's price growth laggard suburb

Not all Sydney home owners have been beneficiaries of the recent price fillip.

Hunters Hill appears the laggard standout suburb with 0.9% price growth over the past year to its current $1.6 million house price median.

Sydney house prices are up 16.9% over the past year.

''It is no surprise that Hunters Hill has been flat,'' Dr Andrew Wilson, the senior economist at Australian Property Monitors, told the Fairfax Media local paper.

''A lot of prestige suburbs are still playing catch up and Hunters Hill is a classic example of that.''

Dr Wilson said the strongest growth for prestige suburbs like Hunters Hill was before the global financial crisis.

''But with the stockmarket rising they are certainly set to catch up now,'' he suggested.

But Property Observer reckons there's more systemic issues at work hampering price growth - certainly more so off the riverfront than the prestige waterfront trophy homes.

And indeed it is most evident that there are two Hunters Hills - with many of the laggard sales being on the other side of Burns Bay Road, and away from the more popular sandstone and jacaranda peninsula. So a high proportion of slow price growth happens on Bonnefin Road, Abigail Street and Avenue Road, almost Gladesville in location hanging off the Hunters Hill coat tails.

The suburb is a low demand locality historically with an unusually higher proportion of its sales being to devoted upgraders within - not naive about the pricing so therefore careful not to over pay. So not the usual high volumes coming in from elsewhere around Sydney, but they certainly do come from mostly the inner west suburbs like Strathfield.

Its village retail life is hardly vibrant and the single main road entry point must be a bother sometimes.

There have been around 120 house sales since early 2013 of the 2,200 freestanding abodes in the peninsula suburb which Property Observer put under the spotlight.

They ranged from $925,000 to $5.3 million. 

Just the three sales went backwards including the $1.8 million sale last year of the five bedroom at 3 Gladesville Road which had sold in 2007 at $1,875,000.

The four bedroom 5 Ramleh Street went backwards to $1.36 million last year from $1.43 million in 2007.

The priciest price reversal was Kyarra, the 1886 sandstone mansion which sold for $4.5 million at 1 Madeline Street (pictured above) last year having sold at $4.7 million in 2004.

The four bedroom 3 Martha Street went up - but just $10,000 from $2.3 million in 2003 to 11 years later a $2.31 million sale earlier this year.

The 23 Bonnefin Road sold for $2.8 million last year having sold at $2,794,000 in 2007 with $500,000 works to convert it from its duplex status in the meantime.

The four bedroom 36 Abigail Street sold for $1.71 million in 2013 having sold at $1.68 million a decade earlier in 2003.

The four bedroom cottage at 45 Everard Street sold for $1,406,000 in April last year having sold at $1.35 million in March 2010 and $1,261,000 in June 2006 with its then contemporary addition, suggesting to Property Observer the price malaise is longer term than Dr Wilson attests.

Ditto Emsworth, the 1906 house at 19 The Avenue sold for $1.34 million last year having sold at $1.3 million in 2007 and at $1.1 million in 2002.

The renovation opportunity at 2 Johnson Street sold last year at $1.38 million having sold at $1.35 million in 2006.

The 1886 extended house at 4 Alexander Street sold for $3.3 million last year having sold at $3.25 million in 2008.

The riverfront home at 37 Bonnefin Road sold for $3,155,000 earlier this year having sold at $3.05 million in 2007. Not much growth between 2007 also at 21 Madeline Street with its sale of $2.66 million in 2007 and $2.7 million last year.

The house at 65 Woolwich Road sold for $2 million last year having sold in 2010 for $1.91 million.

The contemporary home at 17 Augustine Street sold for $1.88 million last year having sold at $1.8 million in 2011.

The four bedroom 36A Barons Crescent sold for $1,505,000 last year having sold at $1.4 million in 2006.

The three bedroom renovated house at 48 Bonnfin Road sold for $1.52 million last year having sold at $1.45 million in 2008.

The sale of 80B Park Road shows not even the introduction of a fresh estate agency can overcome the price lethargy with it selling at $1,328,000 last year having sold at $1.29 million in 2006.