COVER STORY

The popularity of Pittwater’s wholesome lifestyle has proved Cover story unassailable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local agent Peter Robinson says that home buyers are reverting to their traditional playground when seeking a relative safe haven or bolthole, securing a holiday retreat for their families for years to come. “Considering the general consensus forecast was for a total collapse in the market, the opposite has been true,” Robinson says. “Underpinning the strength is a surge in the number of permanent home buyers looking at the Pittwater area as a prime place to live. Many have now tried working from home and realise that this can be achieved and that they only need access to the CBD on occasion. Therefore they would prefer to enjoy the lifestyle benefits of the Pittwater area.” He says that buyers are taking less time to make a decision. Kathryn Hall from Kathryn Hall Real Estate says she’s had stronger buyer inquiry in the last three months than in the previous 12. She says strong, qualified buyers are making faster decisions and appear to be in a buying mood. “They want an escape now that overseas travel is restricted,” Hall concludes. Ten suburbs overlook Pittwater, some of them only accessible by water, with Scotland Island holding its own in the middle of a picturesque, boat-filled paradise. The biggest sales on Pittwater in 2020 have been in Newport. Model Jennifer

Poolside at Prince Alfred Parade, Newport, sold by vitamin king Marcus Blackmore. Opposite: The home’s exterior and the view over Pittwater

SAFE HAVENS Pittwater in Sydney’s north has become a magnet for buyers in search of space, tranquillity and a healthy lifestyle with no sacrifice of civilised comforts

BY JONATHAN CHANCELLOR

Hawkins and her husband Jake Wall sold their trophy home Casa Paloma for $20 million-plus in June this year. They built the house from scratch in 2017, commissioning go-to architect Koichi Takada to design the west-facing, glass-swathed fivebedroom residence with a no-expense-spared budget. Sandstone, walnut and American oak and honed Turkish marble have been used throughout.

The home, which won a Master Builders Award, also features a four-car garage, an internal lift, temperature-controlled 600- bottle wine cellar and a whole-level parents’ retreat.

The interiors are by Sarah-Jayne Marriott and Hellen Pappas.

Outside, there’s a bar, pizza oven, heated pool, sunken lounge, lawn, boathouse and slipway.

The house sits on 3360sq m of absolute beachfront that was

Clockwise from left: Lisa Keighery’s Palm Beach retreat; construction site, living area and rear of Jennifer Hawkins’ trophy home; and rear of the Keighery property

formerly the Wentworth Estate, owned by the late Liberal politician Bill Wentworth. Hawkins and Wall bought adjoining blocks in 2014 for $4 million, aquiring Jacaranda Cottage and the lesser Blois Cottage, through LJ Hooker agent David Watson.

Christie’s International agent Ken Jacobs secured the sale of Casa Paloma in late June, some eight months after its listing. No price or buyer have yet been revealed, but if the vendors’ ambitious expectations were met it would be the first $20 million-plus deal outside of Palm Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches since 2002. That’s when Finisterre on Avalon’s Stokes Point was bought by the Oatley family for close to $20 million.

Newport has been arguably the hottest market of 2020 on Pittwater. Earlier this year, Melody Lane, the Newport home of Pandora Jewellery founder Karin Adcock, sold to Elizabeth Fang-Xu Dai, who heads the medical device manufacturer Beijing Demux, for $8.9 million. And last month vitamins mogul Marcus Blackmore snappily sold his Newport trophy home in the $8 million range.

Blackmore bought the prime 605sq m Prince Alfred Parade block back in 1995 when his company was breaking into the Singapore market. A keen yachtie, he swapped his home in Manly with a friend so he could be closer to the water.

Architect Rowan Stewart transformed the four-level home, which was built in the 1980s. During Blackmore’s ownership he added an inclinator and swimming pool. There’s also a home theatre and a wine cellar.

Down by the water there’s a self-contained boatshed, while Blackmore’s luxury cruiser Ammonite sits at the end of a private deep water jetty built over the sandy beach.

Blackmore and his wife Caroline are staying at Pittwater, having recently finished a rebuild of Sandgate, the Bayview home they bought for $9.25 million in 2016.

LJ Hooker Mona Vale agent Lachlan Elder, who sold the home, says the Pittwater market is the strongest he’s seen in 35 years. It’s been his best June and July on record.

“The whole COVID thing has made people realise that working from home is doable, and if this becomes the norm the northern beaches is the place to be,” Elder says.

He adds that low interest rates and a lack of stock is also a major driver in the market.

Robinson says new listings are not replacing the numbers sold, so they now have a shortage of property to sell. “That is what will cause a hiccup in the process of the market moving forward,” he says.

The priciest current offering is the Iluka Road, Palm Beach retreat of Lisa Keighery, who has it listed with $17 million hopes. A sale at that price would top the exclusive street’s record, which has stood since Uncle Toby’s founder Doug Shears spent $15 million in 2007.

Overlooking Pittwater from its prized Snapperman Beach location, the five-bedroom home has been designed by architect Alexander Roth, with interiors by Marco Meneguzzi. The open plan Carrara marble kitchen, living and dining area, complete with a Turkish limestone fireplace, opens to an entertainer’s deck and lawn that runs to the water’s edge.

McGrath agent William Manning has the listing. “It is the epitome of beachside luxury and style,” he says.

The recent listing follows two land value only sales along Iluka Road at $9 million and $10.35 million respectively.

LJ Hooker Palm Beach agent David Edwards says the money being spent in the area is astronomical, suggesting local buyers generally top out at $4 million to $5 million.

“On the upper Northern Beaches, Palm Beach and Whale Beach, the little beachside cottage has given way to large multimillion-dollar architectural interpretations of a beach house,” Edwards says.

“This trend is moving south, generally on waterfront and beachfronts, but the off-side in Avalon and Newport is still primarily the domain of the northern beaches weekender.”

Local agent Kathryn Hall noted a preference on Pittwater’s western foreshore for modern renovated properties rather than ones that need work.

She says deep-water frontage is always in strong demand and there is never enough, and describes Palm Beach as a “different scene altogether”, with the primary focus on trophy homes.

There was a recent record-equalling $3.3 million sale at Great Mackeral Beach, the highest price paid at the boat-access only strip since Warwick White, the former managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil, bought nearby for the same amount in 2006. The highest price paid in the interim was $2.7 million in 2009.

Edwards says that stock levels are so low that many agents are selling their spring stock as “secret listings”. He has just two publicly advertised listings but 12 properties privately listed for qualified buyers only. “Buyers are starting to notice this and are actively seeking out agents that specialise in quiet sales”, he says.

Time on market during winter in 2019 was 182 days. Over winter 2020 it is just 95 days.