‘Every suburb has its time’: Million-dollar sales set new records in Gilmore and Strathnairn

Canberra’s record-breaking sales have continued with properties in the suburbs of Gilmore and Strathnairn selling for eye-watering prices and setting new benchmarks for the area.

The residential sales benchmark now sits at $1.225 million in Gilmore and $1.42 million in Strathnairn.

The four-bedroom house at 40 Henry Melville Crescent, Gilmore, went to auction on February 12 but failed to sell under the hammer, passing in at $1.155 million, selling agent Kris Hellier of McGrath Canberra said.

“We negotiated with the highest bidder, who was waiting on another sale of his to exchange before settling on this property, and that took less than a week,” he said.

During the auction campaign, more than 60 groups walked through the 879-square-metre property and on the day of the auction, four parties registered to bid.

“We had great numbers through during the four-week campaign, and when we were valuing the home, I knew it had the potential to break the record in the suburb,” Mr Hellier said.

Government records show a house at 19 Fenston Place sold in November for $1.21 million. This latest sale beat that by $15,000.

“Gilmore is one of those suburbs where achieving a $1 million sale price is still relatively new,” Mr Hellier added.

This is only the fourth sale in Gilmore that has surpassed the $1 million mark.

“Within six months, I anticipate more $1 million-plus sales in Gilmore. Every suburb has its time, and Gilmore’s time is now.”

Elsewhere, the five-bedroom house at 7 Lionel Rose Street, Strathnairn, sold under the hammer on Saturday for $1.42 million.

Selling agent Alexander Anlezark of InStyle Estate Agents said the property was launched on the market in July, but because of the COVID-19-induced lockdown, the campaign for the home stopped.

“We relaunched it early this year and had really good numbers throughout the entire campaign,” Mr Anlezark said.

“We had a mix of investors and owner-occupier families who were interested in the house, and at auction, we had seven registered bidders, and four of those participated.

“This was a former display home, so as you can imagine, everything was to the highest of standards, and it also had a high level of inclusions.”

The eventual buyers were a local Canberra family who had been hunting for a new home for their family and extended relatives for a while, Mr Anlezark said. 

“The house has a separate one-bedroom flat, and that worked out for them,” he added.

Strathnairn’s previous record was set by the property at 22 Yeomans Street when it sold in November for $1,325,000. This latest sale surpassed that by $95,000.

“There are a number of incredible, high-calibre homes in Strathnairn, and I think we’ll see this record tumble yet again over the next 12 months,” Mr Anlezark said.