Lakemba's record $1.87 million sale shows it's shaking off its bad reputation

A record price paid for a five-bedroom house in Lakemba over the weekend is proof the once undesirable suburb, in Sydney’s inner south-west, is working hard to shake its bad reputation.

The two-storey solid brick home on a 954-square-metre block broke Lakemba’s price record for a freestanding house after it sold for $1.87 million.

With 11 registered bidders and about 30 bids, the auction opened at $1.5 million and steadily increased, with a local from the neighbouring suburb of Belmore the eventual winner.

While the older-style home was in need of some updating, agent Marc Dissinger, of Ralph First Real Estate, said it was unlikely the new owner would knock it down.

As the block was zoned R3 – Medium Density Residential, there were limits to its redevelopment potential, Dissinger said.

The home had belonged to an Italian family who had built the property themselves.

Dissinger said the high sale price was part of a trend for the suburb, comparing it to other once-unpopular suburbs that had since taken off in popularity.

“Remember Marrickville years ago? No one wanted to touch Marrickville. Now it’s crazy.

“Lakemba had a bad name from 20-30 years ago, and it just stuck, I think. It’s going to be the next inner-west. You’re still only 15 kilometres, 16 kilometres to the city.”

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Local agent Luke Knapton, from Knapton Property Agents, agreed with the assessment that Lakemba was shaking off its bad reputation.

“There’s been a big shift, especially with the new rail link which has really had a big impact”, he said. “There’s been a stigma attached to Lakemba which has basically dissolved.”

And that vibe has translated to a change in the local property market. “People with homes here aren’t selling them – they’re holding them, they can see it appreciating.”

He said that buyers who have been priced out of both the Burwood and Strathfield areas and the Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills regions have been looking to Lakemba.

This weekend’s $1.87 million sale was well above the median for Lakemba, which Domain Group data pegs at $937,500 for the last six months, with growth of 7.1 per cent. Prices in the suburb have grown 91.3 per cent over the last five years.

In May, 213 Lakemba Street, a three-bedroom house, sold for $1,600,000.

Meanwhile two shops on Haldon Street – 128 and 130 – sold for a whopping $4.4 million in July. 

One house in Lakemba – 29 Quigg Street – did sell in 2014 for $3.05 million but was targeted for redevelopment with B2 Local centre zoning.

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