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Mornington Peninsula J OE L ROB I N S ON
Riding the wave
A perfect storm of factors has spurred a buying boom in the Victorian holiday playground
Every month was a record month last year on the Mornington Peninsula. That was the case in Peninsula Sotheby’s office, with principal Rob Curtain dismissing any suggestion of an extended break over Christmas. “There has been no break down here since April,” he said. In late December, Curtain’s office sold a two-bedroom timber shack on Balnarring Beach for $5.5 million. There was also a suburb record in McCrae and a quick sale in Sorrento, where a modern four-bedroom home sold 24 hours after going online and asking for offers in the mid-$4 millions. And just one week into the new year the agency broke its January sales tally. One of its bigticket sales was Amalfi, a Sorrento trophy that looks like it belongs in the Mediterranean. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom villa in 3035sq m of Paul Bangay gardens sold toward the top end of its $11.8 million to $13 million guide. “The COVID factor affecting travel has inventory levels at record lows and huge buyer demand on the Mornington Peninsula”, Curtain says. “Throw in cheap money and strong equity markets and it’s the perfect storm.” Kay & Burton Portsea agent Liz Jensen agrees. “Against all odds and pessimistic fears around COVID-19 and its macro and micro economic impact, 2020 became one of the greatest years for real estate transactions on the Mornington Peninsula,” she says. Kay & Burton agent Gerald Delany handled a whisper-quiet $25.5 million sale at Sorrento toward the end of last year. The clifftop property was sold by Just Jeans co-founders Roger and Christine Kimberley, with developer Michael Gannon its unconfirmed buyer. This year got off to an ambitious start with the listing of Horizon, a clifftop Flinders estate with $30 million expectations. Rob Curtain, who calls it the finest new home ever offered for sale on the peninsula, was responsible in 2017 for the sale of the Besen family’s Miramar, for $17 million. It was a concrete boomerang designed by Woods Marsh, with two curved wings connected in the middle. Curtain and colleague Danielle Vains are telling Horizon’s prospective buyers that the 6-star energy rated home was five years in the making on its 5060sq m holding with 100m of oceanfront. Monolithic on its cliff edge, the home was designed by architect Bruce Henderson with interiors by Mim Design, and built by local peninsula craftsmen Williams Group with extensive use of concrete and glass. With views across Bass Strait, the 2000sq m home sits off a cobblestone driveway amid coastal landscaping by Fiona Brockhoff and Heath Landscape. The floor plan was designed to allow zoned single-level living. The elevated first level has five ocean-view bedrooms, each with an ensuite, a central kitchen with its own scullery and three living spaces. A lift runs down to the lower level, where there’s a gym, sauna, cinema room, wine 26
MANSIONAUSTRALIA.COM.AU
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
| FEBRUARY 13-14, 2021
