Ai Group boss Innes Willox cuts asking price for Toorak home

Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox has discounted the asking price of his Toorak home after the five-bedroom residence did not sell at auction last Saturday.

The price guide for the stylish town residence with separate self-contained apartment was set at $4.95 million to $5.25 million.

But in a move that may be telling of Mr Willox’s expectations of where Melbourne’s property market is headed over the next six to 12 months, the business leader has now dropped his home’s asking price to a flat $4.95 million and is “inviting all offers”.

“Vendor says sell,” the listing now reads.

According to The Australian, Mr Willox was initially looking for a buyer at up to the $5.75 million mark.

Despite the haircut, though, the property couldn’t attract any serious bidding at the sell-off.

RT Edgar Toorak’s Jeremy Fox is selling the home and was contacted for comment.

Mr Willox, who is also a director of AustralianSuper, purchased the swanky property back in 2015 with his partner, Jane Devereux, for $3.4 million, public records show.

This means that even if the Toorak home does sell for under $5 million, the couple could still pocket a paper profit of roughly $1.5 million in six years.

The news comes as Melbourne’s hot property market looks to be cooling in the lead-up to the Christmas holidays, with last weekend’s Super Saturday auction results showing a preliminary clearance rate of 69.3 per cent.

It’s the first time clearance rates in Melbourne have dropped below 70 per cent in over a month, and it could be a sign of things to come, with lower levels of foot traffic, coupled with a growing divide between seller and buyer expectations, being reported in both Melbourne and Sydney.