The Greying of Indooroopilly’s ‘Greylands’; Now Listed at a Loss for $4.75m+

‘Greylands’, one of Indooroopilly’s earliest estates, came to market today with price expectations in excess of $4.75m through Johnston Dixon agent Josephine Johnston Rowell. It’s a rare property with a colourful history, although its current pricing indicates the tight prestige market in Indooroopilly, the Brisbane suburb once considered among the city’s most desirable. It was only last April that Greylands sold for $6.5m (after shopping around the market with $9m-$10m hopes). During the 1990s, the property traded hands twice, both times in the low-$2mils and both times setting new suburb price records. 

Greyalnds as it appeared in the mid-1930s

Greylands itself predates the suburbanization of Indooroopilly. Constructed under the design of architect-builder John Hall for lawyer Graham Hart in 1876, the home was situated on a 28 acre riverfront parcel with sweeping views that are now blocked by infill development. 10 years after the construction of the Queenslander homestead, the opening of Indooroopily Train Station led to the subdivision of land in the then-semi-rural setting. In the below parcel map from the 1880s, Greylands can be seen in the lower right hand corner with it’s 28 acre allotment still intact. 

By 1918, Greylands was subdivided into its own estate of homes, leaving the 1 acre block that the home now rests in. And the name? Well, according to a 1932 article in The Queenslander, the name Greylands “would hardly describe lands by the river anywhere, it was not on account of the colouring of his 28½ acres that Mr Hart gave to the home that he had erected thereon the name “Greylands.” The name. I believe, was that of a favourite book, or one being read at the time.” That same article goes into great detail on the design and layout of the home that current floor plans reveal is largely in tact, save for extensive kitchen renovations. The 6-bedroom home comes with tennis court, pool, a large wraparound gravel driveway and period features aplenty. 

But the price! Nearly $2m less than just one year ago? What gives? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

More photos and listing information below the break.

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Kew: Melbourne’s Modern Hot Spot?

Who would have thought that Federation-filled Kew would play host to some of Melbourne’s finest examples of modernism (and minimalism)? The basic but tasteful re-invention of an inter-war brick home in the Studley Park precinct is worthy of note. It traded hands just last year for $1.42m (back then, James.net.au said “Although this property is a brick Edwardian with a Studley Park address, [it should be viewed] as land only as the current home [is in dire need of repair]. It is ideally located close to Kew primary school and the shops and transport at Kew junction. At 563 sqm, prospective buyers may like to build a new home (STCA) however; there may be some privacy concerns as the property on the northern boundary sits right on the fence.”); next, you tack on the quick renovation by unknown architects which added a second floor and pool, and boom - the current owners are flipping the house with indicative pricing around the mid-$3mils. Jellis Craig Hawthorn agents have Tom Aylward and Richard Winneke have the listing.

The listing: 16 Banool Avenue, Kew 

UPDATE: Tragedy in Brighton East: ‘Otley’ Sells at a Loss

UPDATE: Hat-tip to ‘Edwardian’, one of the Radical Terrace’s favourite commentators, for letting us know that Otley did in fact sell at a loss. The final price? $2.665m. Not quite as bad as we expected, but most definitely still a loser…

It was only in March when we last saw ‘Otley’, a single story 1887 Victorian Italianate villa (with three story tower!), listed and sold. So recent, in fact, we can’t even find a record of its sale price through JP Dixon Real Estate Brighton. Nonetheless, the home popped up on the market today (just a few months later), now listed through Hodges Brighton agents Sarah Korbel and Campbell Cooney. Otley’s return to the market highlights the villa’s roller coaster track record. 

Otley, c1890, as seen from what was initially designed as the front of the property: facing west toward Point Nepean Road (now Nepean Highway). Today, the property is accessed from the south.

Let’s start in the beginning of [Melbourne real estate] time: the 1850s (yes, yes, the city existed several decades prior, but for speculative real estate purposes, the Gold Rush marks when shit got real). The Melbourne establishment and professional class solidly resided in East Melbourne and the St Kilda Road corridor stretching to St Kilda Hill. The coastal stretch south of St Kilda belonged to wealthy Western Districts landholders who initially colonised the area, Brighton, as a holiday getaway. By the time the 1880s land boom took hold of the city, tracts of land were speculatively developed along all established lines of infrastructure. City workers were attracted to the train lines that extended to Toorak, Armadale, and Malvern to the south east and to Hawthorn, Kew, and Camberwell to the east. Otley, located south and east of the train lines, was initially located off Point Nepean Road (now the Nepean Highway). For all intents and purposes, it likely seemed as a growth corridor for the developer of Otley (especially seeing that Mt Eliza, further along the same road, became a desirable holiday getaway during the same time). However, not everything turned out as planned, and the bust that followed the boom saw the inland corridor of Brighton (now “Brighton East”) without solid transportation links and only quasi-developed at best. As late as 1945, development only began to creep close to the then-isolated ‘Otley’ (see image below). 

At the time of the above image, Otley must have looked like an outsider amongst the new construction of the inter-war and post-war years (and the farm land that existed only a few hundred metres from the property). Other homes of similar vintage to Otley were at least a full kilometre closer to the water in prime Brighton. The Radical Terrace imagines the home was a tough sell back in those days when the Victorian Italianate aesthetic seemed quite archaic, stodgy, and backwards-looking.

However, fast forwarding to recent times, Otley seems to be flip-flopping between a tough sell and a desirable piece of history. Let’s crack open the sales timeline:

May 1998: $700k
Feb 2001: $1.1m
May 2009: $2.95m
Feb 2010: $2.984m
Mar 2012: ???

And now? The home has been listed at a major loss, only seeking between “$2.25m and $2.5m.” OUCH! Most notably, it was discovered, is the renovations that occured between Otley’s May 2009 sale and today. Digging around online forums, The Radical Terrace discovered that most period features in the non-Heritage Listed home had been ripped out post-2009, leaving the home with grey carpeting where original hardwood once sat, an institutional-looking kitchen, and a flat ceiling where original mouldings once highlighted the height of the 19th century home. Perhaps the current owners’ sad renovation is being valued as such by the open market? Even still, the for a four-bedroom home with pool on a 1600sqm block of land, the price seems reasonable, even in the B+ Brighton East location; so why the dramatic price chop? We’re not sure, but we do know that someone stands to lose a fair bit of money and we’re just thankful it’s not us.

The listing: Otley, 1 Clive Street, Brighton East

Iain Halliday-Designed Renovation on Mona Vale Bluff Wants $3.5m+

That “Mona Vale discount” is back in force with this 4-bedroom blufftop home wanting what appears to be a rather humble $3.5m+. It is indeed a low price for Northern Beaches water frontage, but not for Mona Vale. The suburb seldom sees homes trading above the $3m mark (although street mate 46 Hillcrest Ave did sell for a record breaking $5.1m in Nov 2007). The subject property was acquired by the current owners for $2.0m in Feb 2007 in rather shabby shape. By late 2009, plans were lodged for a renovation and pool addition with the local council; and now today, in 2012, the home is on the open market and we’re treated to images of the final product designed by Iain Halliday. The north-facing views, minimalist aesthetic, clean lines, and four-bedrooms make it a good buy, in our opinion. One small aside, the Radical Terrace can’t help but point out similarities (including the circular skylight) between this renovation and a project by Halliday’s former BKH partner David Katon in Bondi Beach. Just sayin’.

Lachlan Elder of LJ Hooker Mona Vale has the listing: 26 Hillcrest Avenue, Mona Vale

‘Graceland’ Wants to Break Beacon Hill’s Price Record

Beacon Hill, a suburb near Frenchs Forest to the north of Sydney, has a new home vying for top spot. The estate, situated on an uncharacteristically large 3 acre plot of land, last sold for $1.75m in Aug 2008. It has since then undergone a hefty renovation and addition, including a two-storey living area and kitchen and vanishing edge pool. All in, ‘Graceland’ apparently marries “Hampton’s [sic] style” and “NY loft apartment [style]” according to broker verbiage. It also wants a very New York price: $5.5m+. And at that price, it would clear the Beacon Hill suburb record by many a million. There is a cluster of homes who have sold in the low-$2mils, but no other higher sales that the Radical Terrace could track down. Best of luck to LJ Hooker Collaroy agents Gordon Spring and Kim Jeffrey for their record breaking attempt.

The listing: 29 Brooker Avenue, Beacon Hill

Nice Scoop, Margie!

It hasn’t even hit the open market yet, but Margie Blok landed a solid property scoop: the listing of 75 Bay Street, one of Double Bay’s last-remaining original harbourfront homes. The home has been in the Pockley Family since the 1940s. The home was constructed in 1920 for Merriweather family and has a “tree of local significance” on the property. Seriously. Expect a price well in the eight-digits for the home, boatshed, and 1091sqm of land, despite its poor shape. Michael Dunn of Richardson & Wrench has the listing. 

And just for fun, here’s an 1874 image of Double Bay with what appears to be the Victorian Gothic style home (at right, near edge of wharf) that the current home likely replaced in 1920. 

Images courtesy of Google Street View, SMH Title Deeds dated 14 July, and the State Library of Victoria

Robin Boyd Original Lists in Toorak for $2.5m+

Now here’s a Toorak listing that Kay & Burton wasn’t able to hegemonically stake claim: ‘Milne House’ on the corner of the busy Toorak and quiet Glenbervie Roads. Bennison Mackinnon agents Hugh Hardy and Andrew Macmillan landed the well-renovated trophy listing and slapped a reasonable sounding asking price on the abode: “Between $2.5m and $2.75m.” 

Robin Boyd, a well-regarded mid-century architect (who is likely better known for his exhaustive and verbose architectural critiques), designed the home for the Milne family on the former garden to the Ingleburn mansion (now located at 3 Glenbervie) in 1971. This was one of Boyd’s last homes and represents an uncharacteristic departure for the architect: instead of maintaining his iconic polychromatic aesthetic for revealing different elements of home construction, Milne House uses one single colour. According to a 1992 City of Malvern Heritage Study, it followed the “late 1960s fashion of steep skilling roof forms in opposing combinations” combined with strong massing and simple detailing. Despite the home’s un-Boyd like characteristics, Milne House is still a rarity. Not only is this the only home of Boyd’s the Radical Terrace can locate in Toorak, it has been sympathetically renovated (and furnished).  The 4-bedroom courtyard home last traded in rather shabby shape in Feb 2006 for $1.63m. Kudos to the owners for a Radical Terrace-approved renovation (is that a cork board ceiling we see?!?). And thanks to a noisy location off Toorak Road, it can be yours at a relatively reasonable sub-$3mil price. 

BONUS!  Rights-protected images of Milne House and other Boyd works can be found here.

The listing: ‘Milne House’ 1 Glenbervie Road, Toorak

Radical Roundup: New & Notable This Week

VIC

IVANHOE - One of about only a dozen Ivanhoe homes fronting the Yarra River, 9-11 Riverside Road listed this week with hopes of smashing Ivanhoe’s price record through Miles agents Damien Carter and James Davis. The post-modern 6-bedroom rests on nearly an acre and comes with a riverfront tennis court. The home last sold for $2.47m in Nov 2003 and has doubtfully been refurbished since. Nonetheless, it comes with $5m+ expectations which would eclipse current Ivanhoe record holder 59 Studley Rd which sold for $4.3m in Aug 2010. 9-11 Riverside Road, Ivanhoe

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MELBOURNE CBD - A colossal 500sqm tri-level apartment in the redeveloped Sargood House at 73 Flinders Lane hit the market this week with $4m+ expectations through Barleys Estate Agents John Hayes and Danielle Martin. The apartment last traded for $1.43m in Dec 2005. The price seems paltry by 2012 standards, but 2005 was early in the reinvention of Melbourne CBD’s appeal to high-end residential buyers. Wood Marsh gets a solid B grade for their interior design and extensive outdoor spaces. The listing: 602/73 Flinders Lane

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BEAUMARIS - Beaumaris, a suburb developed almost entirely in the post-war years holds very few Colonial homes. One of those few - ‘Talbot House’, c1880 - listed this week. Although never considered a landmark property, the very nature of its age warranted a Heritage Listing and lengthy verbiage by listing agents Michael Cooney and Craig Cox of Hodges Beaumaris. The home itself is chock-full of over-the-top furnishings and faux-finishes. It last traded (as a development site, interestingly enough) for $1.95m in Aug 2005. History comes at a cost: the house and 1.5 acres comes with price expectations so outlandish, it’s not even worth writing the number here. The listing: ‘Talbot House’, 28 Cromer Road, Beaumaris

• Above images: Talbot House today (above) and an ariel from 1945 with the featured property located at the center with the single, straight pathway and established trees (below) 

GISBORNE SOUTH - Nothing quite says ‘Americana’ like steep gables, bay windows, an outer suburban location, and a seven-car garage. Or at least that comparison is what John Saurini of Leeburn is hoping will attract a $3.25m buyer to acquire a 74-acre listing of his on a less-than-salubrious cul-de-sac in Gisborne South. Although the Radical Terrace will admit that the indoor pool, atrium living and dining areas, and “walk-bridge” definitely lend itself to an American-style evangelical Christian family with double-digit children. 39 Namnans Way, Gisborne South

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WOOLLAHRA - Unit 15 in the desirable Woollahra block ‘Lyndhurst Gardens’ has returned to market with a new listing agent and an old price (low to mid-$3mils). Randall Kemp of Ray White Woollahra bumped his Ray White co-workers Penny Timothy and Ian Campbell. The Radical Terrace last visited this listing in March: check out our write-up on the block here. You may remember from that piece of ours that Unit 9 was looking for $2.18m; that unit ended up landing exactly $2.0m in Apr for a unit identical to the featured property. 15/3 Rosemont Ave, Woollahra

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EWINGSDALE (BYRON BAY) - A Tuscan-styled home outside of Byron Bay that’s been off-and-on the market for the last few years reemerged this week. Price is unchanged: $2.9m. The home last sold as vacant land in 2004 for $880k. Janis Perkins of Raine & Horne Byron Bay has the listing: 210 Balraith Lane, Ewingsdale Byron Bay

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SYDNEY CBD - Unit 4102, a sub-sub-penthouse in the well-known apartment high-rise The Cove, listed asking “offers over $4.8m.” It’s a big bump for the three-bedroom Unit 4102, having last traded for $3.8m in Dec 2010 with no signs of a renovation in the interim. Nevertheless, a high precedent for sales over $4m exists on levels 40 and up in the building (See below). Monique Lavers of Sydney Cove Property has the listing:

1. Unit 4101 (floormates!): $4.15m, Apr 2008
2. Unit 4201: $4.575m, Oct 2008
3. Unit 4302: $6.71m, Mar 2006

SYLVANIA WATERS - Whenever a Sylvania Waters property comes our way, it’s a pleasant surprise: few suburbs reveal the shifting trends of what is deemed desirable than this harbourfront suburb in Sydney’s Shire. This week’s featured four-bedroom home comes with “20 metres of deep waterfrontage with pontoon and jetty” and a price history that’s a social demographers dream. Let’s take a look at 274 Belgrave Esplanade’s sales timeline:

1. $700k, Mar 1996
2. $2.1m, Nov 2002
3. $3.3m, Sep 2007
4. $2.7m, Mar 2009
5. $____m, And today? 

VAUCLUSE - Isn’t any home with that iconic gun-barrel view of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House worthy of note? Enter 27 New South Head Road. Robert Paradis of LJ Hooker Bondi Junction has the new-ish 4-bedroom-with-pool home that lands a sweet Vaucluse location past the S-curves. However, those S-curves aren’t the only obstacle you’ll cross scoring this property; it wil also set you back over $4.75m. The listing: 27 New South Head Road, Vaucluse.

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KIRRIBILLI - Little of Kirribilli’s colonial housing stock survived the early 20th C apartment building frenzy of the densely populated peninsula. Thus 60 Willoughby Street’s c1880s construction, quirky yard with pool, and period features come with a price tag “above $5m”. However, working against the home’s high price is it’s minimal view and lack of harbourfront. A long-listed comp at 69 Carabella Street has been lingering on the market for nearly 2 years. Kingsley Yates and Rachael White of Ray White Lower North Shore have the listing. 

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ELIZABETH BAY - Last sold for $5.75m as new construction in 2010, Unit 4 at 1 Onslow Avenue in Elizabeth Bay now comes with a discounted price. Jason Boon of Richardson Wrench is seeking $5.5m+ for the full-floor apartment. 4/1 Onslow Ave, Elizabeth Bay

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MITTAGONG - What appears to be a tragically unsold spec home emerged on the market through agent Ian Rayner. The 2 acres-and-a-McMansion comes with a $3.15m ask and a secret Mittagong address. Big number for two acres and scant landscaping. Check out the ambiguously located haunted house here.

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SA

TENNYSON - A oceanfront home in the Adelaide suburb of Tennyson listed recently with low-$3mil expectations. The mansion comes with 6 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and a rooftop meditation deck. Agent Lynette McMahon is quick to make reference to the home’s “Californian beach mansion” aesthetic. 27 Tennyson Heights Court, Tennyson

Sky High Pricing in East Melbourne: A $5.5m+ (Attached) Terrace

123 Gipps Street, an elegant William Pitt-designed c1887 4-bedroom Victorian Italianate terrace situated in patrician East Melbourne, is back on the market once again. We’re not sure what it is about this home that lends itself to constant flipping, but in the last 7 years the home was traded hands three times:

1. Oct 2005: $2.15m;
2. Aug 2009: $2.85m; 
3. Jan 2011: $3.1m. 

However, this time, RT Edgar listing agents Jeremy Fox and Andrew Smith have set the pricing bar a bit higher. The duo are seeking outlandish $5.5m+ expectations. The Radical Terrace can think of no comparably sized terrace in East Melbourne or South Yarra to have traded in this range. In fact, based on our research, few single-family homes have traded above $5m (thanks be to tightly-held mansions, the Morgan Family’s George Street abode comes to mind). Let’s have a look at the other $5m+ sales in the 3-0-0-2:

• $5.0m: 99 Hotham Street (a larger, detached terrace), June 2010
• $5.5m: 181-189 Gipps Street (still bouncing on and off the market, this detached home is over twice the size of 123 Gipps), June 2007
• $6.0m: 178 George Street (it’s a mansion, c’mon folks), March 2006
• $10.5m: 118 Gipps Street (yup, across-the-street neighbour sold for a famously high price; then again, it’s one of Melbourne’s most well-known and well-preserved town mansions), August 2007

Does 123 Gipps Street belong in this club? We presume a renovation (of indeterminate date) that brought ‘Casa de Maria’ lots (and lots) of marble, the home’s 2 car spaces, and a location on well-maintained block devoid of apartment blocks have allowed Jeremy and Andrew’s pricing hopes to flutter high. But the jury is still out if the vendors (and agents) get so lucky. The listing: 123 Gipps Street, East Melbourne

Marble.

And more marble.

Few things say “$5m” as well as an uncovered carport. 

“Palm Beach in Paddington”…

…or something like that. A 6-metre wide terrace in ‘South Paddington’, the slightly-less desirable and quieter pocket of Paddington south of Oxford Street (that also sits in the City of Sydney council and not the Woollahra Council), listed this week through omni-present McGrath agent Ben Collier. The four-bedroom home with 2-car garage comes with a white-washed “‘beaches’ aesthetc [sic]” that we agree does vaguely remind us of Palm Beach. The plunge pool, outdoor water, and white-bleached flooring definitely help achieve a Northern Beaches vibe. The price, too, reflects a very Palm Beach feeling. This terrace will set you back $3.3m+. 

The listing: 52 Gordon Street, Paddington

Top Floor Unit in Australia’s First High Rise Apartment Block Lists (at a Loss?)

‘Kingsclere,’ built in 1912 and considered to be Australia’s first high-rise block of flats, is an icon in Sydney residential development. Situated at the high point of Potts Point at the corner of Macleay Street and Greenknowe, Kingsclere was constructed by society architects Maurice Halligan and Frederick Wilton in the then-modern Edwardian style dressed in brick and sandstone. The apartments were luxurious and modern for the time, featuring “6 rooms, kitchen, pantry, two bathrooms, lavatories, linen, cooks’ and housemaids’ cupboards. There are two balconies and an escape stair to each flat …” (Building, December 12 1912). At the time of construction, the 8-storey apartment block towered over neighbouring Victorian mansions and row houses; it was a full seven years before another apartment block would join Kingsclere in Potts Point (‘Savoy’, designed by Claud Hamilton was built in 1919). The gutsy apartment block development was commissioned by the Albert family and drew inspiration from the far larger and grander apartment blocks of New York City - a location where the city’s establishment entirely moved from single-family homes or row houses to apartment living in the space of one generation from the late 19th century to the First World War. The Albert family maintained ownership of Kingsclere until 1995, when a group of developers acquired the block, extensively renovated the building, and sold off the 17 apartments for around the $500k-$600k mark each.

There have been a handful of sales in the block in the last few years, including the $2.25m sale of Unit 3 in Oct 2010 and the $2.65m sale of Unit 14 six months later in Apr 2011.  However, the priciest sale is held by the well-renovated top-floor apartment Unit 17, which traded hands in Dec 2010 for $3.45m. Interestingly enough, this same apartment has emerged on the market once again; providing Sydney real estate watchers with the chance to assess price adjustments in the last two years. The two-bedroom, two-bath, one-car spot apartment played host to an expensive renovation between its Aug 2004 sale for $1.75m and its most recent sale. Internal restructuring paved the way for a large ensuite bathroom, an eat-in kitchen, parquetry flooring, wood-panelled walls, and extensive use of marble. On the downside? The ceilings (in typical BKH fashion) have been stripped of any original mouldings and two unfortunately-located support columns break-up the house in all their mirrored glory. Perhaps that’s why Jason Boon and Geoff Cox of Richardson & Wrench have priced the home indicatively in the low-$3mils, meaning we may have a “loser” on our hands if the sale doesn’t break the $3.45m mark. 

The listing: 17/1 Greenknowe Ave, Elizabeth Bay/Potts Point

Development Breakdown in Darling Point

Back in March 2006, two neigbhouring inter-war homes-turned-flats on Darling Point’s western slope at 3 and 5 Loftus Road sold to developers Strada Group for a combined $8.5m ($5.1m for #3; $3.4m for #5). Within months of closing, development applications were submitted to Woollahra Council for “proposed demolition of the existing two dwelling houses and construction of a residential flat building containing four dwellings” with a construction cost of $6.35m.  A full two years later (yes, 24 months), the MPRDG-designed plans were finally approved by the Woollahra Council and the arduous construction process began. The triangular-shaped double lot was a challenge. Significant retaining walls were utilised to support the bulky four-unit apartment block to go up; furthermore, the master planning was a challenge (that seems to have been executed well) due to a drastic change in elevation at the street level (Loftus Road drops about 10 metres over the course of the lot lines). 

For all that fun, it seems that Strada is ready to earn its dough back. The first of the four full-floor apartments has hit the open market and the price is $8m+ for Unit 2. Unit 2, mind you, lacks the garden and pool of the ground floor unit and the cachet of the top floor penthouse unit, both of which will likely garner a higher price. Overall, Strada is hoping to make a clean profit. If all four apartments sell for, say, $8m, the $32m proceeds will service the overall cost of $14.8m quite well (in fact, total costs are likely a fair bit more considering the high-end fit out, car lift work, and liberal estimates for development approval). Then again, the Radical Terrace has a tough time seeing this boutique development of four homes garnering a higher price per square metre than the waterfront development ‘Siena’ on the famed Wolseley Road in Point Piper (apartments in that block sold in the high-$7mils). Even Darling Point comps indicate that 3 Loftus Road is being bullish; on the more desirable Yarranabbe Road, it’s uncommon to find full-floor apartments in this high price range. Nonetheless, LJ Hooker super agent Bill Malouf and 1st City - Hasemer + Caldwell.Eyles agents Julian Hasemer and Matt Ratcliffe are trying their best.

(Google Street View remembers the old days at 3 Loftus Road)

The listing: 2/3 Loftus Road, Darling Point

South Yarra Stunner Lists for $5.5m+

Situated in a quirky pocket of mid-century apartment blocks and modern townhouses, ‘Barwon’ - an elegant c1881 Victorian mansion on 1266sqm of South Yarra land listed with price hopes around “in excess of $5.5m”. The Percy Oakden-designed and heritage-listed home traded back in Feb 2005 in less-than-stellar shape for $2.8m. Extensive renovations have gone on in the years since 2007 when the first of permits was submitted to Heritage Victoria; and the result is Radical Terrace-approved. The four bedroom home includes a massive master with ensuite, pool, pool house, an exceedingly discrete double car garage, and interiors featuring a collection of different flooring materials that work well together from polished aggregate concrete to distressed and polished floor boards. The seemingly reasonable house price likely suggests Barwon’s situation on a slightly drab block, as opposed to the more desirable Domain-adjacent location of 58 Millswyn, a (creepily) similar South Yarra Victorian mansion asking over $8m. Even still, we’d take ‘Barwon’ over Millswyn any day. 

Jeremy Fox and David Colbran of RT Edgar Toorak have the listing: 38 Cromwell Road, South Yarra

Well This is Odd... →

Not even a full day after this blog highlighted The Age article reporting on SQM Research’s report of an overstock of outer suburban Melbourne residential real estate, Jonathan Chancellor at Property Observer dives into REIV data that tells a very different story: outer suburban Melbourne rental vacancies are the lowest in the state. We’re so confused. 

Melbourne is Overbuilt, Designing the World's "Worst Suburbs" →

Chris Vedelago and Cameron Houston at The Age penned an article on recent SQM Research indicating Melbourne is home to tens of thousands of unsold homes on its urban fringe. Not surprisingly, everyone and their government representatives are chiming in with hyperbolic statements of doom and despair. Professor Michael Buxton, an RMIT planning expert, went so far as to say Melbourne is ”designing the world’s worst suburbs, the housing stock is terrible and they have very poor liveability. [Melbourne is] going down the same path as the US, where areas outside major cities have become suburban ghettos.” Whoa, whoa, whoa, is the Professor saying Melbourne is going to turn into Detroit? 

Although we’re not going to argue the poor quality of housing on Melbourne’s urban fringe, The Radical Terrace would like to remind our readers of the great boom and bust of Marvellous Melbourne in the 1880s and 90s. Yes, it was over a century ago, but many of the basic principles of this early boom and bust hold steady. According to historian Graeme Davison: “The census of 1891 revealed that many boom suburbs - such as Northcote (12.8% [of homes unoccupied]), Oakleigh (12.5%), Brighton (10.7%), Brunswick (9.5%), Hawthorn (9.5%), and Essendon (9.5%) - were encumbered with high proportion of unoccupied homes.” 

Davison continues articulating that “the disturbing spectacle of deserted railway stations, quarter-filled gasometers and unsold, new houses highlighted a dangerous disparity between developers’ hopes and the demands of those they aspired to serve.”

To the contemporary Melburnian, the notion that Essendon, Hawthorn, and Brunswick were once considered in the same vain as new, fringe suburbs of Hoppers Crossing, Caroline Springs, and Doreen is indeed a paradigm shift. But believe it or not, much of today’s inner suburbs - housing stock that is now heritage listed and protected, mind you - was the work of speculative-builders whose shoddy workmanship and out-of-a-book architecture was derided by the established gentry of St Kilda and East Melbourne. Many a developer made a quick buck, but those who maintained property past 1890 saw their fortunes drop precipitously. However, that corresponding bust to the earlier boom was entirely redeemed by Federation in 1901. So to the doomsayers out there: just give it time. After all, Melbourne is only continuing in its long tradition of growth by dispersion rather than concentration. “70% of the enormous population increase of the 1880s was absorbed by outer Melbourne, half of it in well-established, prosperous southeastern suburbs, half in the less salubrious, hitherto neglected regions to the northwest.” Sounds pretty familiar.