“Top-end Mosman real estate has ridden on the coat-tails of financial good times but, since the GFC hit, all properties have experienced a softening of prices, with top-end residences being the most severely affected,” says a Richardson & Wrench Mosman agent, Robert Simeon.
A principal of Ray White Lower North Shore, Kingsley Yates, says: “There are not many buyers for the most expensive homes and those in the market are incredibly choosy.”
This year’s highest-price sale is $12.6 million for a three-year-old modern mansion in Morella Road, Clifton Gardens.
People move here because
Mosman is an aspirational suburb favoured by people employed in merchant banking, finance, stockbroking and money markets. It has a wide range of upmarket houses, many with harbour views.
Price range
From about $900,000 to $22 million.
Best addresses
On Sydney Harbour: Hopetoun and Burran avenues.
On Middle Harbour: Shellbank Avenue; Bay, Burton and Julian streets.
The prospects
The head of research at Australian Property Monitors, Yvonne Chan, says: “During the past 12 months, 357 Mosman houses sold, with an auction clearance rate of 61 per cent and a median price of $2,085,000 – 10 per cent higher than the previous comparable period. On average, it took 110 days to sell a property and at a discount rate of 9 per cent.”
Where else you might try
Cremorne
Cremorne is next to Mosman but closer to the city. The median house price is $1,425,000, a 23 per cent increase during the past year.
Clontarf
Located across the Spit Bridge, Clontarf has a median price of $2.4 million, which is 15 per cent higher than Mosman’s.