There’s a trophy home listing at Kurnell, the long overlooked waterfront suburb of Sydney, which comes with record price expectations.
It is one of the homes that sit on the dress circle Prince Charles Parade. Kurnell has seen over 100 of its 800 houses fetch more than $1 million since 2007, but just the three priced at $2 million or more, according to CoreLogic. The current record dates back to $2.05 million being paid in 2016, and then matched next door in 2018. CoreLogic had Kurnell get its $1 million median status in 2017.
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The NG Farah listing agent Beau Champion agrees Kurnell hasn’t been seen as a hotspot. “But it is now on the radar of buyers from both the shire and Sydney looking for a coastal change,” he said.
The quiet village is long known for its unpretentious housing, and where Captain James Cook first landed on Australian soil in 1770. Situated about 32km south of the CBD, Kurnell’s small residential pocket consists of about a dozen streets running behind Silver Beach.
Before the 1920s, it was mostly shacks of weekend fishermen. During the Depression families took up along the edge of Botany Bay with the settlement becoming known as Happy Valley. Running the length of Silver Beach is the waterfront avenue Prince Charles Parade, where its housing style remains eclectic.
The five bedroom Hamptons-style home offering was built on its 800 sqm block eight years ago.
“The home delivers a sumptuous lifestyle for the whole family, and friends and visitors which you will have plenty of,” he said.
Record prices are an important event in any residential market.
Last year Sydney saw record prices across many suburbs, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. There were records set in the typically high flying harbourfront suburbs of Gladesville ($10.25 million); Cremorne Point ($16 million) and Kurraba Point ($19.5 million).
The upper north shore saw a raft of records including Warrawee ($15 million), Lindfield ($12 million), Turramurra ($10.25 million), Pymble ($9,875,000) and Roseville ($8.85 million). There was a record at Kenthurst ($7.2 million), Belrose ($8 million) and Terrey Hills ($10 million). Even out to Mt Druitt where The Daily Telegraph reported a $1.38 million sale.
But none got more headlines than the $24.5 million secured by Jennifer Hawkins and Jake Wall at Newport, which saw tech billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes lift the benchmark on Pittwater pricing through Christie’s International.
And there were quick ripple effects with a record $16 million paid overlooking Pittwater at Palm Beach when Lisa Keighery found her buyer in Bruce and Annie Corlett through McGrath agent Will Manning.
Strangely the reputed $95 million record Point Piper sale of Edgewater wasn’t accompanied by much euphoria. Perhaps because its 1800 sqm holding was well above the pricey peninsula’s average land size, maybe because it was a duplex, but also because the deal was not yet fully transparent. Its settlement is not expected until at least 2022.
Records don’t always assist markets. Often nearby vendors see the record price and increase their expectations, which stymies sales activity until buyers get accustomed to the new pricing regimen.