SMASH OWN RECORD
JARRAD BEVAN
A SUPERB Lauderdale property has achieved a feat that few could claim: smashing its own suburb record price by almost double.
Harcourts Hobart property representative Ben Vance sold No.257 South Arm Road for $3 million, eclipsing its previous sale in 2015 which was $1.505 million.
He said the property had been purchased by a Sydney-based buyer — sight unseen — who intends to use it as her holiday home.
“It was certainly a big result, the type that compares with prices in Sandy Bay or Battery Point,” Mr Vance said.
“For residential sales on the Hobart Eastern Shore, $3m is the highest recorded sale, as far as I can see.”
With a number of these types of record breaking sales in the books this year, Mr Vance said it tells us something about the fire in the market.
“To achieve sales like this in the top end of the market, the low and middle ends must be absolutely thriving, and pushing each other higher and higher,” he said.
Mr Vance described No.257 South Arm as being “in a league of its own”.
“The sheer scale of it is outstanding, spread across multiple levels and a sprawling 703sq m,” he said.
“It ticks a few big boxes with having 2ha of land right on the water.
“Acreage by the water and only 17 minutes from the city? That’s not common, it’s hard to find.”
While this unique home was certainly special when the owners bought it in 2015, they have since invested substantially in upgrading the property. Mr Vance said they had spent around $500,000 on it.
“There is a huge amount of solar with 60 panels on the roof, three batteries that were imported from America and an elaborate security system... the owners are particular about details and it shows in their fantastic property,” he said.
On realestate.com.au, No.257 South Arm’s for sale listing was a smash hit exceeding 20,000 views.
Mr Vance said it was a “dream home” that captured people’s attention.
“A lot of people would have been dreaming of having something they can’t have — that’s a lot of us, hey?
“Interestingly, with people looking at our market from interstate and thinking about the possibility of relocating, a unique home like this — a big mansion on the water — some people might be able to afford this one but maybe not something similar in the larger mainland cities.”
Mr Vance said the size of the home was verging on a commercial scale, and some of the inquiries during the sale campaign came from investment companies.
He said they were assessing the possibility of turning it into a high-end accommodation business.
“It certainly lends itself to that, lots of space where you could set up wedding day marquees and enough room to sleep two dozen people,” Mr Vance said.
“At inquiry level, we had some local and interstate interest, the majority from Sydney and Melbourne.”