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20A Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse, has sold for above its $30m price guide.

As the pandemic news improves, the big property sales keep coming — the latest being the Vaucluse home of businessman Alex Ma which has fetched for more than $30m.

The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom Hermitage Estate home at 20A Vaucluse Road — which Ma bought for $26.5 million in 2017 — was first listed last February after Ma, 30, had snapped up two waterfront homes on Carrara Rd for $56 million in late 2018.

Agents Peter Leipnik and Alex George of BadgerFox, had declared the house sold last March, but the Australian-based buyer couldn’t complete and the deal fell over.

But now it’s done. The home, on a 1500sq m block — with cinema, heated pool, lift, gym and sauna plus parking for 12 cars — has sold for more than the $30m price guide.

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20A Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse, has a heated pool and a range of other resort-like facilities.

There are iconic views.

They’d relisted it in July this year with the same guide with a planned August auction that never eventuated, but an Instagram post today indicated they’d found a buyer.

COVID-19 has certainly been no obstacle to big results.

Despite passing in on a vendor bid of $16.5m at auction the previous weekend, the stunning 14 Mirimar Avenue Bronte home with ocean views of cancer specialist GenesisCare founder Dan Collins and wife Cassandra had sold by last Friday for $16m via PPD Real Estate principal Alexander Phillips.

And Phillips himself isn’t afraid to be spending up big during a pandemic.

14 Mirimar Avenue, Bronte, sold for $16m

14 Mirimar Avenue, Bronte came with a pool.

Less than 24 hours after the Bronte sale, Phillips bought a rundown two-bedroom semi at 10 Coolong Road, Vaucluse for $5.5m, $2m above reserve.

Michael Pallier, the Sotheby’s principal, had nine registered bidders including Jackie O’s ex, Lee Henderson (who didn’t get an actual bid in).

Asked why he wanted it so much, Phillips told Insider it was a solid long-term investment. “Coolong Road is the best street in Australia — you will never go wrong!”

He and wife Bridget are yet to move into the five bedroom mansion further up the street that they bought for $11.1m in 2018, also via Sotheby’s.

Phillips’s Bronte sale was last week’s top sale in the eastern suburbs, and his purchase of 10 Coolong Road the top auction result.

Within 24 hours of his big sale, the agent, PPD principal Alexander Phillips paid $2m over reserve for this Vaucluse semi.

He lives in an $11m mansion nearby and believes Coolong Road is the best street in Australia.

Second top was 3 John Dykes Avenue, Vaucluse, at $4.9m (the reserve), home of Roger Mendes, of Roger R. Mendes & Co Real Estate in Darlinghurst in the ‘70s via McGrath’s Imran Hamidi.

The recent sales successes — which of course also included the recent $95m sale of the Wolseley Road, Point Piper home of Katies co-founders Joseph Brender and the late Sam Moss by Sotheby’s Michael Pallier — is encouraging double-digit listings.

Gail and Michael Zammit have $40m+ hopes for their three-level renovated residence at 152 Wolseley Road via LJ Hooker Double Bay’s Bill Malouf.

Malouf also has the 18 Martin Road, Centennial Park mansion of hoteliers Sandy and Angelo Elliott with hopes of exceeding the $13m offer they’ve received in the past.

9 Cranbrook Lane, Bellevue Hill, sold for about $9m.

It sold prior to its scheduled auction.

That six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home has a range of features including a solar-heated plunge pool with waterfall, a Gone with the Wind-style staircase; a 20-seat dining room and a 14-car garage.

Other just-happened sales have included art dealer Jenny Hillman has also sold her Bellevue Hill home for about $9m, which was the guide, ahead of its scheduled auction with Michael Pallier of Sotheby’s.

The five-bedroom home at 9 Cranbrook Lane had one of the best harbour views in the suburb. Now she has to offload her extensive art collection ahead of her downsize to two semis she bought for $10.5m in April.

Pallier had a great week of sales last week, with colleague Daphne Sauvage, selling the Art Deco apartment at 1&2/4 Gladswood Gardens, Double Bay owned by Geoff Kyle, who ran the popular Double Bay high-end tableware store Studio Haus, for just over the $3m guide. And Pallier picked up the Kilmory Estate Wentworth Street Point Piper three-bed unit of former QBE chief Pat Regan which has a $6.5m-$7m guide.

The post Vaucluse mansion of Alex Ma house sells again for $30m+ appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Is Harry a dirty cheat or simply a man who innocently used his home-ground advantage?

The other contestants have dubbed the happy-go-lucky father “Dirty Harry”, for sneaking on to the building site to do some measuring while the rest of them were interstate in COVID-19 lockdown.

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Harry argued that he’d done nothing wrong because nobody said contestants were banned from the site while work had stopped.

But the other contestants weren’t having a bar of his excuses, labelling his antics “shifty” and vowing to take revenge by blocking Harry and Tash from making any changes to their building that required approval from the entire group.

Daniel and Jade aren’t happy to find out Harry repeatedly visited The Block site while the other contestants were in lockdown interstate.

The revelation about Harry’s covert lockdown work came when host Scott Cam welcomed the five teams back from a six-week production hiatus back in March.

As the pandemic took hold in cities around Australia, state borders began closing, leaving four teams at risk of being marooned in Victoria and separated from their loved ones for an unknown period of time. And so, Scotty reluctantly called tools down and sent the interstaters packing.

Although work on site had become increasingly difficult ahead of the closure, with shops around them shuttering and a growing sense of fear about their families’ health and safety, nobody was keen to leave midway through the project.

“We are going home, and we don’t know how long for. Two weeks? Two months? Two years? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tash worried when Cam announced that The Block was shutting up shop.

Luke and Jasmin amuse themselves during lockdown with aerobics.

Like the rest of the country, the contestants spent the next few weeks in their homes, although they remained in contact with each other with regular Zoom meets.

To keep the spirit of the competition going, Scotty also challenged them to create weekly videos, offering a cash incentive for the best ones. So we’re treated to the sight of Jasmin and Luke doing aerobics, Harry gyrating in costume as George Michael, and George rolling around in the shrubbery in a Pikachu jumpsuit (no doubt from that prized Pokémon collection of his).

When the teams returned to Melbourne to recommence work, they were visibly disgusted to hear that Harry had been caught prowling around the abandoned construction site with a tape measure.

Dirty Harry got his reputation for sneakily going on to The Block site while the other contestants were in lockdown interstate.

The revelation was initially met with nervous laughter but as the reality of Harry’s actions dawned on each team, their amusement at Harry’s chutzpah turned to fury.

“We were all in quarantine doing the right thing and for him to go on to The Block and do that, I am not cool with that,” a visibly emotional Tam said having earlier outlined her struggles with going from “100 to zero” — from working 24/7 on her reno to being shut in her Queensland house with Jimmy and their young child.

Jimmy was also unimpressed with Harry’s tape work: “I think all the other contestants were a little unhappy about that. We are all in different states. We don’t have an opportunity to go in and throw a tape measure around, we can only work off the plans. For him to be able to go on site and measure things and make changes, to possibly advance himself in the competition, we were all dirty about that.”

“We are dirty on Dirty Harry,” added Tam.

South Australians Daniel and Jade were just as indignant.

“I’ll be honest, he better not ask to change a single thing with his house because it’s going to be a flat fricken no from me,” a furious Daniel vented, as wife Jade nodded furiously in agreement.

It was understandable. The farming couple have been under immense financial strain because of the drought. They also have a child with a rare medical condition who needs treatment. Locked away on their rural property in South Australia with their three young kids, they didn’t have the luxury of sneaking in anywhere to get a leg up in the competition.

Jasmin warned that retribution might be in store for tape man Harry: “There was a chat on a Zoom meet that they wanted to change some of their steel. We were going to have a body corp meeting about that but now after hearing that I think he’s just dug himself a grave.”

Just imagine their anger when they discovered that Harry hadn’t been on site just once. Nope, he’d managed to boldly pop in three times!

Sarah and George find out Harry sneaked on to the site while the other contestants were in interstate lockdown

As Harry got to surreptitiously preview, a lot has changed on site since the contestants were sent home. All the properties are now at lock-up stage with Wi-Fi installed to help deal with the increased need for online meetings and shopping.

New post-lockdown rules were in place too. There were limits on how many people were allowed on site at any one time. And sanitising stations had been set up at every front gate.

Of course, all this has become an all too familiar to Melbourne residents these days. But, back in March when the show was filmed, it all felt quite new and strange.

While readjusting to new life on The Block, the contestants have the monumental task ahead of creating two rooms — a bedroom and a bathroom — in the newly erected steel-framed extensions to their period properties.

That’s right, it’s out of the old part of the house, and everyone has grand plans for their spaces.

Jade and Daniel (who are yet to win any prizemoney) decided to go big and create three bedrooms rather than the two that had been earmarked. This will give their house a total of five bedrooms.

Luke and Jasmin also had grand designs. They wanted to move the orientation of their upstairs bathroom so that they could create a second living area. This meant moving a structural wall.

Unfortunately, it’s a grimmer proposition for Harry and Tash who have the smallest upstairs area on The Block and an unusual roof pitch to work around.

And, thanks to Harry and his tape measure, they now also have four angry neighbours.

MISSED AN EPISODE?

Episode 16: The most jaw-dropping rooms The Block has seen

Episodes 14, 15 recap: ‘D*** move’: Tensions rise as team dobs on another

Episode 13 recap: ‘Blockhead’s potty antics disgust Keith’

Episode 10-11 recap: The new Block rule that could ruin the season

Episode 9 recap: Favouritism allegations hit The Block

Episode 8 recap: Judges pull no punches on grieving Daniel and Jade

Episode 6-7 recap: Sack your builder: Keith slams ‘pathetic’ work

Episode 4 recap: Luke and Jasmin’s big stuff up

Episode 3 recap: “So two years ago”. Team’s boring room slammed

Episode 2 recap: Disappointment as Block houses are handed out

Episode 1 recap: Block 2020 tears start flowing early

The post The Block 2020 episode 17 recap: Harry is accused of cheating appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Convinced renting is the low risk alternative to buying? You could be right. In these desirable suburbs, by choosing to rent, you’re paying far less than the cost to own the home you live in. 

2020 has thrown a few curveballs. If you were planning to buy this year, you might be having second thoughts. The good news is, right now, it’s a renter’s market.

Whether you plan to buy in the future or not, renting right now makes a lot sense, says Sam Nokes, head of property management at Jellis Craig Stonnington, Richmond and surrounds. He says, in particular, it’s a tenant’s market for inner-city dwellers.

“Some properties have remained popular throughout the COVID-19 downturn but, overall, the inner city is the place for deals,” Nokes says. “Look at the CBDs in most capital cities; there is huge vacancy with next-to-no new tenants entering the market.

“If you want to live in the CBD, now’s the time.”

This property in Woollahra, which sold for $3.2m in 2019, has been snapped up by savvy tenants. Picture: realestate.com.au/rent

When there’s risk in the market, renting is a safer bet, says Nokes.

“We’re facing the likelihood of a long and deep recession and prices might keep going down,” he says.

However, if buying is in your future plans, he cautions on holding out too long.

“If you look at New Zealand, their selling market took off when lockdown ended and those waiting missed their opportunity,” adds Nokes.

Where to find rent at a fraction of the cost of owning

Need some help deciding where to ride out the storm? We looked at realestate.com.au data to find the top 10 suburbs around Australia where the cost disparity between monthly rental payments and monthly mortgage repayments was greatest – in favour of renting.

The monthly repayment, based on the suburb median house price, is calculated with a 20% deposit and 3.02% interest rate for monthly repayments over 30 years. The monthly rent, based on the suburb median rent, is calculated by weekly rent x 52 (weeks) / 12 (months). The data is restricted to two-bedroom properties.

Land value has nothing to do with rent

Topped by Woollahra in Sydney’s east, riverside Nedlands in Perth and North Bondi, part of Sydney’s trendiest beach locale, the list of suburbs where rental payments are cheaper than mortgage repayments is a promising set for any renter concerned with maintaining a hip lifestyle.

Poolside living in North Bondi is yours for the fraction of the cost of buying. Picture: realestate.com.au/rent

In Woollahra, you’ll make a saving of as much as $3,857 a month by renting! That’s not even taking into account what you’ll dodge in the outlay for the deposit.

“What this tells us is that land value has nothing to do with rent,” Nokes says. “A house on a large block and a house on a small block usually don’t differ greatly in rent. Good and great streets also don’t always have a large impact. What matters more to rent is what you get to use, not what you get to own.” 

In suburbs like Woollahra, Nedlands and North Bondi, “what you get” is access to a great lifestyle. If you were planning on moving away from the inner city this year to buy a property in the suburbs, you might want to consider holding onto the lifestyle perks a little longer. It might not cost you that much more if you rent.

On the rental market for $800 a week, there are homes in Mount Waverley you’d pay a lot more to own. Picture: realestate.com.au/rent

In Victoria, which has seen greater economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic than any other state, it was not inner-city but leafy eastern suburbs around 10-15km from the Melbourne CBD that made the top 10 list of suburbs where rental payments are far less than mortgage repayments.

“Surrey Hills and Mount Waverley are great examples of where the land values have surpassed the rental values because tenants aren’t really concerned with how much land they get,” Nokes explains.

“Both of these areas also have a lot of older properties where the land value is high. These are more likely to be leased out than the large luxury homes that push up sales prices in these areas.”

Scroll down to find the top two suburbs where it’s cheaper to rent than buy in your home state or territory.

Individual states and territories

These are the top two suburbs in each state where it’s cheaper to rent than buy.

Listed by suburb, monthly rent, estimated monthly mortgage payment and the monthly price difference.

ACT had no suburbs where it was cheaper to rent than buy, while Tasmania only had one.

NSW

Woollahra – $3,857.14 – $7,608 – $3,751 cheaper to rent

North Bondi – $4,500 – $7,498 – $2,998 cheaper to rent

QLD

Camp Hill – $1,800 – $2,654 – $854 cheaper to rent

Bardon – $1,842 – $2,491 – $648 cheaper to rent

SA

Prospect – $1,542 – $2,066 – $523 cheaper to rent

Norwood – $1,800 – $2,290 – $490 cheaper to rent

Tasmania

Sandy Bay – $2,357 – $3,085– $728 cheaper to rent

Victoria

Mount Waverley – $1,800 – $4,466– $2,666 cheaper to rent

Surrey Hills – $1,992 – $4,624 – $2,631 cheaper to rent

WA

Nedlands – $1,928 – $5,139 – $3,211 cheaper to rent

Cottesloe – $2,421 – $5,072 – $2,650 cheaper to rent

Still need help deciding on a suburb? Talk to friends, neighbours, the hairdresser, your barista – anyone who’ll listen! – about your options. A second opinion never hurts.

The post Top 10 suburbs where it’s cheaper to rent than buy appeared first on realestate.com.au.