By Tyler Wright
House values have taken a hit over the past year according to new data, with two mansions in Sassafras returning to the market after price cuts.
Data from CoreLogic shows house values have fallen in Melbourne’s outer east by 11.4 per cent in the year to February, with a median value of $862,628.
At their peak value last year, homes in Olinda, Kalorama, Mount Dandenong, Selby, Emerald and Gembrook were valued at a median price of over $1 million, and are now valued at a median of $999,693, $967,867, $990,660, $907,585, $955,405 and $927,570 respectively.
Marshall White Manningham director Brenton Linmeiers said the market is “not bad” by any means, but houses are taking longer to sell due to trade shortages.
“If we had the same stock volume as we typically do, then there would be a drop,” Mr Linmeiers said.
“I’m sure some areas that do still have stock volume, they are seeing a greater drop, maybe up to seven per cent, but because of the shortage of stock, it is holding prices.
“It’s not great for real estate agents not having as much stock, but it’s also not bad for real estate agents because we’re essentially still holding prices, so we’re not having to struggle to sell every property.”
Mr Linmeiers is currently handling a listing at 4 Chudleigh Crescent in Sassafras; a mansion with an asking price between $4.9 and $5.2 million, which is set to break the suburb’s record if sold within asking range.
The property dubbed ‘Chateau Jardin Parfume’ sold in 2020 for $2.66 million before being listed in 2021 for between $8 million to $8.8 million.
It is believed a contract fell through with the buyer, who made an offer of around $7 million, with the property making a return to the market in 2023 with a hefty $3 million price cut.
“If we think a property is outside of what we think we can achieve we won’t take the listing on, but anybody who has seen the house can see quite plainly that it’s worth every penny in that quoted range,” Mr Linmeiers said.
“Some agents come in and give it some inflated value, and obviously the vendors are always happy to try as you would be, but at the same time there were some things that were included in the sale back then that potentially aren’t now, like a lot of the furnishings.
“They’ve spent close $4 million in renovations on that property since they purchased it for $2.5 to $2.6 [million], but then they’ve also spent millions of dollars in furnishings and sculptures and things like that that actually make up a lot of landscaping and so forth.”
A six bedroom and six bathroom home in Sassafras at 2 Aurora Rise has also re-entered the market, this time with a $500,000 drop in asking price, with the vendor asking for $5.4 million, compared to a listing in 2022 asking for $5.9 million.
‘Abingdon’ as the mansion is named, last sold in 2017 for $1.6 million.
Sassafrass’ current record house price sits at $3.3 million, with the sale of 1 Chudleigh Crescent in April 2022.
