1. From $6m to $2.9m: Price Chopping in Byron Bay

    Araucaria - a Mediterranean-inspired estate in the hills outside of Byron Bay - has been listed on the market for quite some time. 2 1/2 years, to be exact. But it draws particular attention from the Radical Terrace today for the epic price chopping it’s endured. Starting with an optimistic (but seemingly reasonable) price of $6m, the home now seems to be priced at around replacement value at $2.9m. Considering the buyer’s paid $880k for the vacant lot in Aug 2004 and likely spent a sum more than twice that constructing the house, they will likely be disappointed with the final sale price…when it does sell.

    The 5-bedroom home sits on just shy of an acre of land with well-designed landscaping, a pool, 2-bedroom casita, and plenty of outdoor entertaining space. Views to the Pacific in the distance top off the offering. It comes as no surprise that the home is advertised as a holiday rental as well. We imagine it ought to quickly find a buyer, unless there is something we don’t know about the home. 

    The listing: Araucaria, 210 Balraith Lane, Ewingsdale

    BONUS!  Floor plans can be found here.

  2. Radical Roundup: New & Notable This Week

    SA

    • ALDGATE  ‘Windcombe’, a true-to-form Palladian-style home in the Adelaide Hills is listed for $1.695m. Sold as a parcel of land in 2000 for $250k, the home that now stands was built soon thereafter and modeled after the 18th C Bath, England manor home of the same name. The home was shopped around on the market back in 2008, but it’s unclear to the Radical Terrace if it successfully sold in that marketing campaign. Despite the home’s new construction, the floor plan is almost creepily 18th century in its efficiency and lay out. Dale Gray of Brock Harcourts Ouwens Casserly has the listing: 105 Milan Terrace, Aldgate.

    NSW

    • KILLARA Yet another sub-$5mil property in the Polo Belt. This time it’s 22 Rosebery Road, just off Killara’s desirable Springdale Road and it’s listed for $4.5m through Barbara Gunther of McGrath Upper North Shore. The home sits on a half-acre, features a pool, plays a bit of tennis tetris, and has some vaguely authentic Federation architecture. The listing: 22 Rosebery Road, Killara

    • NEWTOWN  Jack Bao of Loyal Property City has quite an investment opportunity for you. An 11-bedroom brothel on King Street in Newtown can be yours for $2.3m+. Not only does every bedroom have an ensuite, but there are 3 extra toilets, 3 “discrete greeting areas” and, of course, laundry facilities. Check out the listing here. 
    • HUNTERS HILL Tragedy strikes hard in Hunters Hill. Accordingly, listing agents for 23 Bonnefin Road have taken a drastic approach: outlining the specific replacement cost for the home. Leon Chan and Anthony Scelzi of Leaders Estate Agents break down 17 cost items that total $500k. One thing the agents aren’t an open book about: the most recent sale price. Although they claim it sold for “around $3m” in 2007, it actually sold for $2.794m, the exact amount they are now seeking; dramatically less than the $3.5m+ they were hunting for when the waterfront renovation project first listed nearly two years ago. 23 Bonnefin Road, Hunters Hill
    • NEUTRAL BAY Listed over a week ago, a harbourfront home (complete with swimming pool!) at 17 Baden Rd in Neutral Bay listed with a $7.5m asking price through Knox Family Real Estate (who may or may not be the actual owners of the house themselves?). The home hasn’t sold since the early 90s, and by the look of the interiors hadn’t been renovated for several decades prior. 17 Baden Road ‘Kurraba Point’ Neutral Bay

    VIC

    • TOORAK A 6-bedroom 1930s manor home on Toorak’s desirable Huntingfield Road listed this week with $7.5m+ expectations through RT Edgar Toorak agents Simon Hicks and Jeremy Fox. The home last sold for $4m in May 2005 and appears to have undergone a recent renovation. Huntingfield’s desirability lies in its well-maintained architectural consistency; virtually all homes on the road are of similar large size and were built in the inter-war years. The featured home, 17 Huntingfield Road, sits on a 1/4 acre block of land and comes with a swimming pool and its own eponymous website. 

  3. Price Chopping in Woollahra for $3.4m+ $2.95m Terrace A former featured property in Woollahra is chopping it’s price from $3.4m down to the sub-$3m price of $2.95. I guess the gilt-edged interiors (and noisy Ocean Road location?) are acting as a deterrent to buyers? Gary Sands and Susanna Anderson of Di Jones have the 3-bedroom terrace listing at 13 Ocean Street. And it’s entering a pretty buyer-friendly pricing for the post code 2025. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this property.  The comps: Attached (and slightly smaller) next door neighbour, 15 Ocean Street, sold for $1.7m back in October 2002.

    Price Chopping in Woollahra for $3.4m+ $2.95m Terrace

    A former featured property in Woollahra is chopping it’s price from $3.4m down to the sub-$3m price of $2.95. I guess the gilt-edged interiors (and noisy Ocean Road location?) are acting as a deterrent to buyers? Gary Sands and Susanna Anderson of Di Jones have the 3-bedroom terrace listing at 13 Ocean Street. And it’s entering a pretty buyer-friendly pricing for the post code 2025. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this property. 

    The comps: Attached (and slightly smaller) next door neighbour, 15 Ocean Street, sold for $1.7m back in October 2002.

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  4. Really Large Kitchen Island Lists at a Loss

    An impressive modern abode fronting Terrigal beach (and a beach ball’s throw away from the Terrigal Lagoon) in Wamberal listed today at $3.8m, a pretty hefty loss on the $4.15m the vendor’s purchased the property for back in 2007 (the good ole’ days). And did you see the kitchen island? It’s huge!

    Matt Reynolds of Matt Reynolds Realty has the listing.

  5. PRICE CHOPPING! From $7m+ Hopes to $5m Reality

    Property Observer is reporting that Peter and Kathryn Kotzias’ Rose Bay penthouse sold for “about $5m”, a far cry from their $7m+ hopes from February 2010. Not surprising seeing that the apartment is quite an awkward one. Plus points for rooftop pool and keeping in the grain with some mid-century-styled interiors. Negative points for everything else. The block of apartments itself - on the corner of New South Head and Beresford Roads - resembles a tired car dealership out on Parramatta Road (fittingly, the original developers were a car dealing family themselves).

    Looks like the Kotzias copped a loss on the place; they purchased the pad for $3.63m in 2007 and likely tossed in at least $1m in the Weir Phillips-designed revamp.

    Paul Ephron and Steven Chen of McGrath held the listing.