Bullish $10.1 million under the hammer Vaucluse trophy mansion sale

Bullish $10.1 million under the hammer Vaucluse trophy mansion sale
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Businessman Paul Ehrlich and his wife Lauren secured a bullish $10.1 million for their palatial Vaucluse home, highlighting the price resurgence of inland Vaucluse mansions.

It had been listed for auction last night, first with hopes of $8.5 million, then $9 million plus, but three Australian/Chinese buyers pushed the price into double digit million territory.

The three-storey Towns Road mansion dates back to the architect Harold Finger who built it around two decades ago.

He sold it in 1996 for $4.28 million to Oriental Technologies Investment vice chairman Laurence Luo-Lin Xin.

The Ehrlichs bought it for $4.1 million in 1999. They met at Maccabi squash in 1983.

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Bidding opened at $8.7 million, with auctioneer James Keenan calling it on the market at $10 million, when it was subsequently knocked down to the opening bidder.

Set on 1200 square metres, the six-bedroom residence comes with a tennis court, indoor and outdoor pool and rooftop terrace with Sydney Harbour views.

It sold through Ray White Double Bay agents Elliott Placks and Ashley Bierman.

Last year close to 50 houses sold above the 2013 Vaucluse suburb median of around $3.1 million as increased sales activity signalled the emerging signs of momentum. The median was once $3.8 million in 2011.

The top three harbourside properties sold at $14 million, $15 million and $19 million, but it is arguable that the resurgence hasn't yet got to the waterfront homes. 

The Singapore-based BRW rich lister Brett Blundy has yet to his Kutti Beach home, but secured around $7 million on his neighbouring non-waterfront home. 

Rag traders Nick and Susie Kelly bought last year from nautical engineering entrepreneur Philip Goymour and his wife, Tanya, setting the highest price for the year at $19 million on Kutti Beach.

But the mainland Chinese buyers appear to prefer inland with King Chu and Xiaoyi Zhu spending $15 million when they bought the Vaucluse Road, Vaucluse home of John and Mary Andrews from the Haverick Meats family mid-last year, some two years after its listing.

Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke recently bought his inland five-bedroom home for around $8.3 million. 

Lawyer John Williamson-Noble, a partner at Gilbert+Tobin, and his wife Renee, sold their Coolong Road home earlier this year at $6.5 million, having been listed last September with $6.5 million-plus hopes through McGrath's Hamish Robertson.

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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