House prices in Sydney rise 25 per cent

Press, 27 November 1980, Page 17

House prices in Sydney rise 25 per cent

NZPA correspondent Sydney

New Zealanders planning on selling up and moving to Sydney had best bring a big cheque with them if they want to buy a house. Prices have rocketed over recent years, leaving little chance for the average wage-earner to buy his dream home.

A genuine working man’s five-bedroomed terrace in the run down inner-city suberb of Surry Hills went for $78,000 (SN.Z. 93,600) last week. It was in its original 1890 s condition, including elderly bathroom, kitchen, and outside lavatory. The buyer intended to live in the house and renovate it. It will be worth his while. In October, a superbly restored four-story terrace house in the same area was sold for $170,000 (SN.Z. 204,000).

A unit in one of Sydney’s oldest and most graceful, and expensive, home unit blocks overlooking the Botanic Gardens, with spectacular harbour views out to the Heads was sold recently for $285,000 (SN.Z. 342.000).

These were exceptional

prices but good indicators of the cost of home ownership in Sydney. Figures gathered by Sydney real estate agents show that Sydney residential property values have risen by an average of 25 per cent this year compared with 27 per cent last year. However, the shift back towards the city into older inner-city areas showed up with prices in the inner west of Sydney rising by 26 per cent this year compared with 24.87 per cent last year.

The in n e r-westem suburbs are . a far cry from the average New Zealander’s idea of his own home — old workingclass areas of terraced houses, run-down factories, and derelict yards. Some, such as Balmain on the harbour, have already been “trendified,” being restored and renovated by the younger middle-class in the same way as Thomdon in Wellington, and Heme Bay, Parnell, and parts of Ponsonby in Auckland.

The average price of a “modest” two-bedroom to three-bedroom semi-de-tached or terrace house in these areas — Annandale, Leichhardt. Marrickville, and Redfern — is now

about $65,000 to $70,000 SNZBO.OOO, according to the agents’ survey. In Balmain, the average price for a similar hoirse is now $95,000 ($NZ114,000).

On the eastern side of Sydney around Paddington, which went through gentrification back in the 1960 s and early 19705, the average price for a modest terrace house is $140,000 ($NZ168,000). Prices on the east vary greatly, but none come cheap. Darling Point, overlooking the harbour, will cost $3 0 0 , 00 0 (5NZ360.000). For a twobedroom to three-bedroom house, snobby Woollahra fetches $165,000 ($NZ198,000) for a terrace house and even Jowly Bondi near the beach costs $115,000 ($NZ138,000) for a semidetached dwelling.

The o u t e r-westem suburbs are cheaper but a long way from the harbour and sea. Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, about 120 km west of Sydney, but still near enough for commuters, comes cheapest in the survey at $43,000 (5NZ51.600) for a cottage, followed by Black-

town, about 40km from the citv centre, at $58,000 (SNZ69’,OOO). Other outer-western suburbs vary from $60,000 ($NZ72,000) for a two-bed-room to three-bedroom cottage up to $115,000 (SNZ 138,000). To the south, thev range from 585.000 to $125,000 (SNZIOO,OOO to $150,000), but are generally higher north of the Harbour Bridge. ’ The stockbroker belt round Killara and Gordon, on the main trunk railway line into Svdnev, will cost about $150,000 ($NZ180,000) for a modest two-bedroom to t h r e e-bedroom house, while nearer the harbour at Mosman the asking price for a similar house is on average about $135,000 ($NZ162,000). A semi-detached house just over the bridge at Neutral Bay or in North Sydney will cost $125,000 ($NZ150,000). Prospective buyers can give up any hope of the values falling markedly. The real estate agents, Barraclough and Goldman, describing the last 12 months as a period of “solid growth,” predict a levelling of values but no dramatic fall.