Add CategoryA Rose Bay apartment has sold for “well in excess” of its $10m guide at auction tonight, smashing the suburb’s record for the second time in two weeks and highlighting the shortage of quality options for eastern suburbs downsizers.
Ist City Double Bay’s Julian Hasemer and Brad Caldwell-Eyles had five bidders register for the four-bedroom beachside unit in the ‘Wintergarden’ block at 4/614 New South Head Rd.
The actual final result wasn’t immediately clear since the private on-site auction was closed to all but the registered parties, but Mr Hasemer confirmed that bidding started at $9.3m and there was an attempted “knockout” bid of almost $500,000.
One of the parties had attempted a $7m bid, but that was refused.
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Three of the five parties actually bid and the property sold under the hammer.
“All of the five who registered were eastern suburbs downsizers … for large single-level apartments there is absolute strength in that market,” Mr Hasemer said.
“If you look around there’s there’s just nothing for these empty-nesters, apart for a few double-storey apartments that don’t have lifts.”
For that reason, the Ist City duo had plenty of interest in the first-level apartment, which had four bathrooms and a double garage.
“It had 200 sqm of internal space, it was on the beach and north-facing and straight down the lift to the shops,” Mr Hasemer said.
The former home of the late Betty and Gershon Wilkenfeld initially had a price guide of $10 million in an expressions of interest campaign, but given the interest the agents decided to switch to an auction.
Betty Wilkenfeld was as well known for her decades of communal work as for the international Bloch dancewear empire she founded with her father, Jacob.
The couple had bought the apartment more than 25 years ago for $1.95m.
It’s in a boutique block of eight that is tightly held and it also has the benefit of direct access to the beach and a pool.
Given the penthouse had sold for $7.5m two years ago, many of those interested wondered about the $10m guide but the agents stuck to it firmly and it’s paid off.
The Ist City agents now hold the apartment record for Darling Point, Point Piper and Rose Bay.
Tonight’s result follows the auction sale two weeks ago by Ray White Double Bay’s Gavin Rubinstein for a penthouse at 6/7-9 Conway Ave, Rose Bay, which sold for $8,860,000.
A young bidder bought it for his parents.
Although not beachfront like the Wintergarden apartment, it was in a well-maintained near-new boutique block of six with internal lift access into the unit and gun-barrel harbour views.
It also had a triple garage and 200sqm-plus terrace.