Sydney's Kirribilli House - what is the estimated value of our Prime Minister's residence

Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Valuations, after no matter how many sales' comparables, are always subjective.

So when Movoto, a real estate research blog in the United States, blogged the value of Sydney's Kirribilli House at around $54.5 million this month, I was actually almost in agreement.

Yes it was in a silly presentation of its supposed offering for sale, but the estimated value seemed sensible for the currently under-utlised place.

Certainly the $54.5 estimate was not as wayward as the occasional $100 million cloud cookoo land estimates of boom years past - when exuberant agents suggested it was worth double Altona, the Point Piper abode sold last year at $52 million.

With views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, the Kirribilli property's prime location makes it one of the city's most prestigious pieces of real estate. 

I've never been invited in, but am advised it is small 300 square metre heritage home on vast grounds. It has been the Prime Minister's Sydney home since the 1930 - a Gothic Revival residence built around 1853. I spotted an estimated value of $19 million in 1995, there was a $30 million estimate in 1998. It was back in the news around 2004 when the then Federal Labor Leader Mark Latham foreshadowed that, as prime minister, he may sell the harbourside mansion which elicited speculation it could fetch around $50 million.

It's cold, dark and cramped, say most critics. Pru Goward once referred to Kirribilli House as a "holiday shack". But then Liberal backbencher Tony Abbott railed against Kirribilli House querying whether the then Prime Minister Paul Keating really needed such a "gracious harborside mansion."

The latest issuance of NSW land valuations puts the land value of 109 Kirribilli Avenue as $25.5 million and 111 Kirribilli is an another $12.5 million. That's seemingly Admirality House, the larger Governor General's abode and the smaller Prime MInsiter's squat. Just land taken into account with the valuation.

But I always take the valuations with a grain of salt. Yes, improvements have been made to the valuation process over recent years.

But NSW investors who are soon to get their lastest valuations should review their  holdings seriously with a mind to making a chellenge  - and I'll come to that later this week.

news@propertyobserver.com.au

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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