Exterior and pool of 140 Victoria Avenue, Dalkeith, and bottom, the living area
Perth E M I LY PE T TA FOR
Safe haven in the west Interest in the WA capital’s prestige market is keen – including from expats Perth’s prestige real estate market is on the move, with a record sale and high-net worth individuals seeking a safe place to park their money. Dalkeith has just notched up its highest sale in nine years, with a glamorous riverfront home changing hands for $14 million. Ray White Cottesloe director Jody Fewster put 140 Victoria Street, Dalkeith, under contract ahead of its planned March 21 auction. Fewster had five written offers on that 2293sq m property and says confidence is high in Perth’s prestige market. “I had 15 private inspection groups view the home and it was under offer in less than seven weeks,” she says. All the potential buyers were local families, but Fewster says since 140 Victoria Street sold, she has seen increased interest from the US – largely from expatriate buyers. Dalkeith, in Perth’s exclusive western suburbs, holds the crown as the city’s most expensive suburb, and is home to many of its trophy mansions and famous families, including Kerry Stokes and Gina Rinehart. Bordered by the Swan River on three sides and close to the central business district, the suburb has always been sought after. Fewster says she is “very bullish” on the prospects for Perth’s prestige market. “The smart money is moving into property. There are few other asset classes where people can place large amounts of capital. Everyone knows Perth is at the bottom of its property cycle and we have a very favourable exchange rate.” While she acknowledges that fear and uncertainty surrounding the global spread of COVID-19 could take its toll at the lower end of the market, high-net worth individuals are looking for safe havens as global stock markets plumb depths not seen since the Global Financial Crisis. Fewster has several other prestige listings on her books, including 89 Watkins Road, Dalkeith, which happens to be her childhood home. That property, being sold by Sue Gibson, sits on 6406sq m with 270-degree views of the river, a marble-floored ballroom, a tennis court and boat shed. Currently seeking $35 million, Fewster says the estate, known locally as “the Bond Mansion”, could potentially be subdivided, with her vendor investigating this option. She also has 39 Keane Street, Peppermint Grove, which occupies 1818sq m, for sale and is seeking offers of $11 million to $12 million. “Given the price for 140 Victoria Street, both of those properties look like very good buying,” she says. Research confirms a nascent recovery in Perth’s property market, which has seen house prices fall 22 per cent from their mid-2014 peak. November 2019 was the first month-on-month growth for the city in 18 months, with house prices up 0.4 per cent across Greater Perth. CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless says the prestige market, centred on inner-Perth and taking in the city’s western suburbs, drove those gains. “The top quarter of the market saw values up nearly 1 per cent.” While Lawless says the one-month gain was “probably too soon to call the bottom of the market”, if a recovery in Perth was under way it would be driven by the upper end of the market. APRIL 11-12, 2020
| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
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