Property headlines on Sydney’s north shore have long been dominated by one suburb: Mosman. Now that’s changing, with a trophy run west of the Harbour Bridge.
When former Mirvac CEO Greg Paramor and his wife, Kerry, sold Lavender Bay historic home Idlemere late last year for $42.2 million, they reset the lower north shore record, drawing it (just) west of the Harbour Bridge and away from local record stalwart Mosman.
That trophy home spend has continued to spread westward along the north shore waterfront, following a slew of pricey listings – and sales – in suburbs such as Longueville, Woolwich and Hunters Hill.
This Gale Street home is set to break the Woolwich record on Sydney’s north shore.
On Friday, a Woolwich mansion with 50 metres of Lane Cove River frontage hit the prestige market guiding upwards of $36 million – the latest big-ticket, non-Mosman property on offer on the lower north shore.
On the afternoon of AFR Weekend’s visit, just-bloomed wisteria was spilling over sandstone retaining walls that terrace down to a private, north-facing sandy beach, complete with deep-water jetty.
“If this was Point Piper, it would be double, possibly triple the price,” the appointed realtor, The Agency co-founder Steven Chen, observes.
The fact eastern suburbs-based Chen is handling the out-of-area Woolwich listing is itself a sign of the growing interest – and money – circulating among buyers (and agents) seeking a slice of Sydney’s burgeoning lower north shore market.
The Woolwich home has expansive northerly views over the Lane Cove River.
Chen is selling the property on behalf of the downsizing Gale Street vendors of more than two decades, Jinxia Ning and Guanglong Huang, who paid $3.85 million in 1997.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home with six-car garage on 1500 square metres is set to break the Woolwich record. That stands at $22.18 million from when late businessman Phil Salter’s widow, Christine, sold their 1892-built waterfront estate Vailele to glass manufacturer Wang Xiande in 2017.
“We are seeing an influx of Chinese buyers looking for unique waterfront properties. This clientele along with locals will see immense value in this area,” Chen says.
The Agency’s Steven Chen pictured at the $36 million Woolwich listing. Oscar Colman
Opposite the Woolwich peninsula across the Lane Cove River sits Longueville’s finest property, Otahki, owned by Tyro director David Fite and former Telstra Mobile boss Danita Lowes. Otahki recently hit the ultra-prestige market with a $50 million price tag, catapulting the leafy suburb into uncharted price territory.
The local real estate rumour mill has divulged multiple offers above Idlemere’s $42.2 million record have already been made on Otahki, but they are yet to meet vendor expectations.
Otahki’s selling agent, Forbes’ Ken Jacobs, says the attention focused on lower north shore suburbs such as Longueville, Woolwich and Hunters Hill is overdue.
Longueville’s Otahki is guiding $50 million and is expected to reset the lower north shore price record.
“The lower north shore has been undervalued when compared to prices achieved in the eastern suburbs,” Jacobs says.
“In recent years, the highest sale on the lower north shore has gone from $25.5 million to $42.2 million, which is a sign the whole of the lower north shore is being recalibrated.”
Mosman is unquestionably the epicentre of trophy traffic on the north side, clocking 136 sales at or above $10 million over the past five years, according to data house CoreLogic.
Its data shows Woolwich and Longueville have each recorded just 11 sales using the same criteria, while Hunters Hill has had 17 properties sell for $10 million or more over the same period.
Those figures are ramping up. In May, Longueville’s $13 million record was eclipsed by more than $6 million, when The Australian Financial Review revealed a non-waterfront home on Kenneth Street sold for more than $19 million. Settlement later revealed the $19.25 million home with tennis court was purchased by Greatland Gold CEO Gervaise Heddle and partner Jocelyn Fuller.
The five-bedroom home on Longueville’s Kenneth Street sold for $19.25 million in May. Louie Douvis
Then, in early August, Macquarie Group and Lendlease board member Phil Coffey and wife Kerry sold their Longueville estate, Wigram, for an undisclosed price believed to be between $19 million and $20 million – and rumoured to now hold the Longueville record, beating the Kenneth Street sale.
Just last week, Longueville locals Rob and Maree Drury sold their Lucretia Avenue deep waterfront for about $18.1 million, through McGrath’s Tracey Dixon and Sam Lloyd, who declined to comment on the sale.
Wigram (left) is the Longueville estate built by Colonel Wigram and sold by Phil and Kerry Coffey for between $19 and $20 million; the Longueville waterfront home of Rob and Maree Drury has sold for more than $18 million.
Meanwhile, Avionics managing director Nick Brumley has put his nearby waterfront, also on Lucretia Avenue, on the prestige market with Sotheby’s Clint Ballard and Belle’s Simon Harrison, guiding about $20 million.
In nearby Hunters Hill, legal heavyweight Baker Mckenzie’s Ben McLaughlin and his wife and local councillor Justine have listed their landmark (non-waterfront) home, Kokera, guiding $15 million to $16 million.
Built in 1890, the American shingle-style two-storey property sits on a 1400-square-metre block with pool, tennis court and Harbour Bridge views and last traded for about $5 million in 2005.
The 1890-built Kokera in Hunters Hill has joined the prestige market guiding $15 million to $16 million. Inset: M&A lawyer Ben McLaughlin and his wife, Justine McLaughlin.
Although selling agent Darren Curtis of Christie’s declined to comment on the Kokera vendors, he did say buyers willing to look beyond traditional trophy enclaves of the eastern suburbs and Mosman were impressed with the value on offer west of the Harbour Bridge.
“Those buyers who have the courage to look above the parapet to look in less-demand areas are rewarded with some really astonishing finds,” Curtis says.
“You can’t get on the water now in the east for less than $70, $80 or $90 [million].”
McGrath’s Dixon says the run of recent sales around $20 million is simply the beginning.
“I don’t think it’s long before we start seeing prices in the 30s and 40s and 50s [of millions],” Dixon says, adding that buyers are drawn to the schools, including Riverview and Joeys, larger blocks and city and water views.
Although Christies’ Curtis says the weak Australian dollar is enticing expat Aussies and international buyers to the area, Dixon says she is seeing an influx of Australian out-of-area buyers looking to get more bang for their trophy buck.
“We are finding a lot of Mosman and eastern suburbs buyers looking to get much better value, and to get a waterfront,” she says.
Jabilusa, a luxury equestrian estate set on a consolidation of three properties, has reset the Duffys Forest record.
Meanwhile, in the uppermost reaches of Sydney, the Duffys Forest suburb record has been reset with the sale of investment banker Simon Tripp and wife Brenda’s 2-hectare, six-paddock estate.
The semi-rural property dubbed Jabilusa sold on Wednesday for about $14.5 million, eclipsing the previous high of $14.375 million set in 2021 by Justin Davis-Rice, chief of lingerie company Naked Brand, and his wife, Katharine, when they purchased a nearby equestrian estate.
The Tripps’ property also comes with a high pedigree of equine features including a double Olympic-size floodlit arena, alongside a championship-size tennis court, gymnasium and 17-metre swimming pool.
The property was sold by Christie’s Darren Curtis alongside Shayne Hutton of Sydney Country Living.
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